Red Dragon Book 1
by iyashi
Summary: Byakuya is cold and empty.  An old foe returns from exile and teachs him how to live again.  Lots of Ichigo and Rukia, hints of Ukitake and Unohana, and Yoruichi and Kisuke!  It is rated T due to violence and langauge!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach. It would not be near so awesome if I did! Go Tite!

_**This is my first attempt at fan fiction, or really any type of storytelling. I am actually a science geek, so typically what I write about is biological systems. I am hoping that I am creative enough to finish this story with all the glory that I picture it in my mind**_

_**First off this is set about 15 years after the Aizen/Arrancar war. I have always really liked Kuchiki Byakuyas character and wanted to use him as my main focus. This was hard because I could not think of a romantic interest for him that hasn't already been way over done. Then I thought about how Zaraki took over the eleventh division. He killed the previous captain under witness of the squad. Obviously we all know that his adorable pink haired side kick became the new vice-captain. So what happened to the previous vice captain….**_

_**XXXX**_

Her ears must be deceiving her. Did she really hear his voice? Did this strange person in front of her, really just say her name? How many years had it been since she had heard her name spoken out loud? Had it ever drifted on the same freezing winds that whipped her hair about her face?

"_Fuko- taicho Ryuu Akai"_

The man before her was average enough; he was dressed in the same uniform as every other shinigami. But exactly how many years had it been since she had even laid eyes on that uniform?

Her eyes slid to the side, glancing at the vast ice sheet that lay behind her. At the moment she and the _intruder_ stood high in the sky above the frigid ocean that occupied the southern part of the globe. It registered to her that he had spoken _her_ name again, although the sound of it sounded like some foreign tongue.

"_Ryuu Akai… that is my name. That is who I am." _She thought as she stood motionless before the stranger.

"Ah" is all that could fall from her lips in the surreal moment.

"I was sent to deliver your orders, former fuko-taicho Ryuu Akai, you are to report immediately to the sao-taicho of the Gotei 13 in the soul society. Your replacement has been found and is taking your place in the southern realm."

He did not look her in the eyes; he did not acknowledge her personally in any way. As a matter of fact, nothing about him stood out at all.

"_Does he even know that he is ending my sentence? He is the first person to speak my name in well over 80 years!" _Her thoughts drifted out into whiteness that made up her world. Everywhere around her existed nothing. She had been here for so long that she had forgotten how her name sounded, maybe even forgotten what her name was to begin with.

Awkwardness set in as she realized she had to reply to this person, "Ah".

"'_Ah'! I replied to a direct order with an insignificant slang term! I had imagined this day for so long, and it had always been full of glorious speeches of honor!" _She sighed and cast her eyes to the side again. Too many years, too much time had passed.

The unnamed man turned and thrust his zanpakuto into thin air causing the formation of the gate-way to the Soul Society. Her eyes turned back to the brightening light before her. It seemed so easy to form the gate, but it was a privilege that had been removed from her with her sentence to this region of the Living World. No matter how unreal it all seemed in her tired grey eyes, she was finally going home.

_**XXXX**_

Scene: Soul Society

Location: Division one: Captains Meeting.

Point of View: Kurosaki Ichigo

He hated captains meetings. All of the egos in this room could cause the next ice age or the end of the world all together. It had been ten years since he had taken the vacant captains seat in division five, but he had never come to enjoy the impromptu meetings called by so-taicho Yamamoto. It did not matter that this meeting was relatively important, it was still insufferable. Ichigo could consent however, that a new captain was not named every day. The vacancy of division three had stood desolate for far too long and it was time to put the war and the traitors involved behind them. Captain Ichimaru had caused a huge uproar with his deflecting to the other side, only to prove that his treason was to defeat the ultimate traitor. He was considered a war hero, and replacing him would take much more than the promotion of a promising underling.

The doors swung open as they all waited to finally see the new captain of division three. Ichigo certainly knew nothing about this person, and could only assume that nobody else knew either. As she walked in he observed the new captain. Especially higher up in the ranks, shinigami had "quirks" that set them apart from their comrades. This specific person was no different. She was tall for a woman, standing about 5'7". Her hair was a mixture of white and blonde with a majority of it falling in three thick braids down her back. Long golden bangs framed her face with a chunk of crimson red hair falling over her left grey eye. While not extremely feminine her face was not unattractive with full lips, and grey eyes shining from beneath her brow. Over her right eye a thin, barely noticeable pink scar stretched from her forehead to the middle of her pale cheek. Draping over the shoulders of her haori to hang about her collar bone was a thick string of teeth and claws giving her an ancient look. About her small waist hung a belt of red fur with twin tassels hanging right below the scarlet hilt of her zanpakuto.

"Captain of the third division, Ryuu Akai! After evaluation from myself and three other captains she has been found more than capable of handling the third division and will do so pending the acceptance of the remaining eight captains." Yamamoto's voice cut into Ichigo's thoughts.

Her face showed very little emotion, and she stood without diverting her glance from straight forward.

"_Great, another icy personality", _thought Ichigo,"_Exactly what we needed."_

He looked cautiously about the room to see the reactions of his fellow captains. The only one that drew his attention was the master of the poker face himself, Kuchiki Byakuya. While his eyes where in their typical position, glued to the floor, his brows where knit together in a look that could only be described as anger.

"Taicho Ryuu Akai will be spending a day with each of the captains of the Gotei 13 to train for her new position. I expect each of you to show your strengths and techniques to assist her in the reshaping of the third division." Commanded Yamamoto

Ichigo smirked to himself. He knew what it was like to stand in her shoes. He was the newest captain standing here tonight; luckily he had fought side by side with most of the shinigami in the room. The special training days had not been easy on him however, as each captain attempted to overcome him in banter, mind games, or in Zaraki's case, physical battle.

"There is nothing that _Ryuu _can learn in my division" the typical level voice of Byakuya was punctuated by a frosty emphasis on the womans name.

Ichigo looked up in shock, only to see both Ryuu and Kuchiki glaring at each other in nothing short of hatred.

'_Well this could be interesting,'_ thought Ichigo as he looked between the two. '_It appears that Byakuya dislikes somebody more than me.'_ Ichigo once again looked down with a smirk; Byakuya had taken an even more serious dislike in him since he had requested his permission to court his sister. Whatever had caused Byakuya to dislike this woman certainly took some heat off of Ichigo, and his relationship with Kuchiki Rukia.

_**XXXX**_

_**Okay, so my first chapter is a bit short and rough. As I get into this story more, I may come back and change it. We have lift off and introduction of main characters! A majority of this story will probably be seen from the point of view of Ryuu. That way I don't risk taking any of the characters we all know and love to far out of character by assuming I know how their thought processes work.**_

_**I use music to inspire my writing. For this chapter it as follows:**_

"Here I am on the phone again and...  
>Awkward silences on the other end<br>I used to know the sound of a smile in your voice  
>But right now (right now ) all I feel (all I feel) is the pain of fighting starting up again<p>

Some say that time changes,  
>best friends can become strangers<br>But I don't want that, no not for you  
>If you just stay with me we can make it through<br>So here we are again the same old argument  
>Now I'm wondering if things will ever change<br>When will you laugh again,  
>laugh like you did back when<br>We'd make noise 'til 3 am,  
>And the neighbors would complain<p>

All the things we talk about  
>You know they stay on my mind, on my mind<br>All the things we laugh about  
>they'll bring us through it every time,<br>After time, after time"

"_**Say Anything" By Good Charlotte (The Young and the Restless Album)**_


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach! Tite is way better at this than I will ever be!

_**So… why would Byakuya go so far as to show anger in a captains meeting? Well let's have ourselves an annoying flashback story so that we can solidify our knowledge of the characters taking part here. **_

_**XXXXX**_

_**100 years ago…**_

Blood dripped from the corner of his mouth, falling off of his chin onto his academy uniform. His eyes flashed angrily towards her as he leaped forward using shunpo.

"You are way too predictable, Kuchiki!" she barked as she blocked his blow with her own bokken. As he fell to her left she lifted her right arm and sent the hilt of the wooden weapon into the back of his skull. One side of her mouth curled up in a crooked smile as her pupil slid face first into the dirt.

"Bitch!" he spat back at her as he wiped the mixture of dirt and blood from his face.

Akia rolled her eyes at him. She hated having to mentor the second year student, she hated his cocky noble attitude, but most of all she hated the fact that she was being _forced_ into mentoring somebody so very different from her. As a sixth year student she had to mentor a second year in order to learn the patience and skill it took to teach younger recruits. The exercise had its uses, but she had hoped to have a student who shared her goals and desires. A student who focused on the tactics and subtleties of sword play, battle, and the honor of being the strongest, or to die in the pursuit. Her place was fairly secured in the eleventh division when she graduates, but this _punk!_

Her sensei had immediately sensed her reluctance when he had told her the young Kuchiki prince would be her responsibility. However, sensei had only smiled and said that Kuchiki needed to learn better swordsmanship, and she needed to learn patience. So here she was, standing in a practice field trying her hardest to not only teach this brat, but also to not kill him in the process.

"Kuchiki, do not let your anger determine your battle. You will lose every time. Loosen up, enjoy the feeling of striking out at an opponent with your strength." She knew that her words would fall onto stubbornly deaf ears. He had let her know many times that she had nothing to teach him, for he was _the noble, Kuchiki Byakuya. _As far as she was concerned he was a total waste of talent.

"Shut-up, Ryuu Akai! You have no right to speak to me without any honorific, who do you think you are!" The Kuchiki kid did have a pretty decent sneer, she had to admit. She decided she would play with him just a bit longer.

In reality their ages were not that far apart. With the passage of time in the soul society, you could actually say that she practically shared a birthday with him. She was found and recruited into the academy from the worst part of the Rukon District. This was of course after she managed to materialize a zanpakuto in a charged sword fight over rights to food. Reiatsu was something she had always had, she was always hungry. Fighting to survive had led to a "premature" realization of her shinigami powers. She had to chuckle anytime anyone had called it that…"_premature"…_ it had in reality showed up right on time and totally saved her ass that day.

"Oh! Please forgive me your highness!" she snarked back at him in the most sarcastic tone she owned. "Please strike me down for my disrespect," her lips curled into their signature half smile, "if you can!"

She really did not know much about her pupil. It did irritate her that he got bypass years to graduate ahead of time because of his damn blood line. You would think that this was some sort of prize pig contest. Well as far as prize pigs go, the Kuchiki's were right up there on the list of noble families. Everything about him screamed refinement, from his defined features all the way to his annoying habit of speaking down to every other living creature that crossed his path.

His eyes widened as a battle yell rushed from his throat. He charged her, bokuto poised for attack. She kept her arms calmly at her side, and watched as he approached. His anger left him full of openings, but she had to admit he was damn fast.

At the last moment she ducked down, and brought her shoulder up into the midsection of his charging body and threw him to the ground. She turned and slammed her right foot onto his chest as he lay prone and gasping for air. The tip of her wooden sword was brought to touch the pulse point on his neck.

"Looks like the mighty have fallen." she said with a bored air to her words.

in return he spat up at her, causing her to chuckle lightly before stepping off of him. She tossed her bokuto onto the ground near him.

As she sauntered off she shouted over her shoulder with a farewell hand held up in the air, "clean up this mess Kuchiki, we are done for the day".

_**XXXX**_

_**80 years ago**_

Nothing could ruin this day for her. Smiling, she once again ran her fingers over the badge that marked her as the fuko-taicho of the 11th division. This was the beginning of week two as the second in command for the battle hungry division. Learning the name of her zanpakuto was fairly easy as _she_ had come to her in her sleep shortly after the weapon had materialized for her during a critical battle in the Rukon District. However, reaching shikai level and controlling that level had been a gigantic hurdle as it happened that her zanpakuto was volatile and hard to predict as she herself was.

Again she smiled as she sat in the little bar and downed one more saucer of sake. Akai liked her noon-time habit. Two shots of sake, and a plate of sashimi, were two things that she couldn't have even dreamed about when she had lived in the 80 district. Tossing some currency onto the table she exited into the bright exterior of the Seireitei, only to have her mood immediately darkened.

Their eyes met as he walked in her direction, but she did not back down by looking away. He had grown and filled out since their time in the academy. Now he floated towards her with his flowing scarf and stupid kenseikan like he was king of the world. Her eyes narrowed into a glare when he gave her that damn noble look of disdain. On his left arm was the fuko-taicho badge for the 6th division, and she thought it was total bullshit. The only reason he had been promoted to that position was that his grand-sire was the taicho. Kuchiki Byakuya did not have to work for his place in the seireitei and it made her sick to her stomach.

"Glad you are living up to the expectations, Ryuu." He said as he glanced at the bar she had just exited.

"I am not sure what you are accusing me of Kuchiki, but until you can back up your smart mouth with your sword, I suggest you keep it shut." Akai was almost surprised by how much venom was in her voice when she said the words.

"I suggest you think a little more before threatening a noble so blatantly." Byakuya's eyes had narrowed and his brows drew together in anger. It gave Akai a small amount of joy that she was able to piss him off just as much as always.

She laughed loudly and sneered at him, "just name the time and place Kuchiki, and I will show you the difference between a noble like you and a real soldier." Just as he inhaled to retort she spun on her heel and walked away, leaving a seething Byakuya behind her.

The two of them had never had any sort of relationship other than mutual dislike. She could never see him as a true comrade. In order to be comrades she would have to trust her back to him in battle, and she just knew that he would fall long before working with her. His swordsmanship had improved a bit, but he was still too prone to his own emotions. He also hid behind that metaphorical shield of his blood lines, as if hollows gave two shits over what ran through a shinigamis veins.

Just then there was a flash and Akai was pushed forward by foot driven between her shoulder blades. As she hit her knees she drew her zanpakuto to block the attack over her shoulder. The sound of blades meeting deafened her left ear. Her eyes swiveled to the side as she saw his hatred filled face beyond his zanpakuto. Shoving him back she leaped to her feet and turned towards him holding her sword down at her side. Despite the many times she had taunted him, this was the first time he had actually drawn on her since she had left the academy. Studying him, she could see that she had finally pushed his pride too far. His breath came in deep heaves, his shoulders were slightly slumped, his eyes were narrowed, and he was radiating fury filled reiatsu.

She raised her sword and pointed it directly at him, "Kuchiki! What are you thinking, if you continue I will only see it as a challenge."

He made no signs of putting away his zanpakuto, his reiatsu swirled about him dangerously. It was obvious that he was angry, she had known this day would come eventually.

She sighed, and as she was taught by her sempai, she calmly recited, "I am Ryuu Akai, if you attempt at me one more time, it will be your last, and I will be your opponent. Put away your weapon Kuchiki!"

Byakuya raised his sword and surged forward. "_Damn he is fast_" she thought as she barely got her sword into the defensive position before his zanpakuto fell upon her own.

She swiveled her wrist and feinted towards his shoulder, when he rose his zanpakuto to block she slashed at his open midsection. A half smile played her lips as she felt her zanpakuto make contact. The victory was short lived as his blade found her right shoulder. Akai hissed through her teeth as she blocked his next attack at her chest. Leaning back slightly she kicked him hard in his already injured midsection, effectively throwing him of balance and providing her the opening to rain down on him with attacks.

After driving him down to one knee she sliced at his wrist and flung his zanpakuto from his grasp. His eyes were wide, his breath was a fast pant of exhaustion. However, she was alive in the moment of battle, exhilarated by the irony taste of blood on her lips. The sharp edge of her blade pressed against the visibly pulsing vessel on his neck. She could envision the blood moving through it; envision how beautiful that blood would be flowing onto her sword and the ground. No longer did she see her old pupil in front of her, the red of battle had clouded her vision so that she could only see her victory.

"Fuko-taicho Ryuu! Lay down your weapon and step away!" A voice cut through her revelry. Her head swiveled to look over her shoulder to see the captains of the sixth and second division.

"Shit" Akai threw her zanpakuto to the side and turned to face her punishment.

_**XXXX**_

_**Later that week 80 years ago**_

She stood in front of the room full of captains; her head was down, blonde hair acted to shield her face from their judgment. Things had rapidly gone out of her control in her confrontation with the noble; however, the Kuchiki clan had cried out that it had been an assassination attempt. How was she to know that he had just been named the heir to the whole shebang? Akai didn't care about all the damn politics involved in the noble ring of clans. All of that aside, she knew that not knowing about those "damn politics" had put her in a precarious situation. From what she had heard even that punk had defended that she was not an assassin. Moments ago he spoke out saying that he had drawn first, but you could tell that he was not doing it as any favor to her. Especially after pointing out in his testimony that she held no respect for his noble rank and that she had insulted the Kuchiki clan. Things were not looking so good for her.

"Fuko-taicho Ryuu Akai, for raising your sword against the heir of a noble family we are sentencing you to duty in the southern realm." The captain commander spoke with a calm authority, despite the fact that the strong blond woman had begun shaking. "You will spend 80 years in solitude as the shinigami on duty in the area. If you carry out your sentence as a mission with pride in your duty, you may be allowed to return when your sentence is served."

That is how Ryuu Akai became the queen of the icy lands south of Japan. She was the goddess of death for lost fishing vessels, stranded scientists, and foolish adventurers who attempted to survive the harshness of Antarctica.

_**XXXX**_

_**I hope you were all able to get through that! I know that flashbacks are not always as much fun as the actual story! In the next update we will get back to the original characters of the story. **_

_**The song that really inspired this chapter**_

"_**Enemy of mine, I'll fuck you like the devil. **_

_**Violent inside, beautiful and evil.**_

_**I'm a ghost. You're an angel.**_

_**We're one and the same, just remains of an age.**_

_**Lost in a day dream, what do you see? **_

_**If you're looking for Jesus, get on your knees! **_

_**Enemy of mine, I'm just a stranger in a strange land.**_

_**Running out of time, better go, go, go! **_

_**Angel or a demon, I gave up my soul, I'm guilty of treason, I've abandoned control"**_

"Stranger in a strange land" by Thirty Seconds to Mars (This is War Album)


	3. Chapter 3

Training Days

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach. If I did, it would suck.

_**So we are back to the future. Ryuu Akai has been called back from duty in the living world after 80 years of exile. At this time she is learning from the other captains, we have to remember that she has missed a lot. There are hints for upcoming chapters here, hurrah!**_

_**XXXX**_

Sunlight sprayed across her eyes as she groaned and tried to roll away from it. This was only her third day as the captain of the 3rd division and she was already through with it. She had spent a day with Soi Fon, another female captain, on her first day. The way that woman stomped around was incredibly annoying, despite the fact that she had given her some pointers on getting respect as a woman in charge of a squad full of men. Yesterday her day was spent at the fourth division, with Unohana, who she was already very familiar with. Unohana was on familiar terms with anyone who had once served in the 11th division. From what she gathered, Unohana had also remained very familiar with a certain 13th division captian, but that was just from what she observed.

Ugh! Today she had to follow around the 5th division captain, who she was not really familiar with. Judging by his name he must be the offspring of Kurosaki Isshin, but who knows, this is the soul society. Everything in her was hoping that Kurosaki Ichigo was not as… flamboyant… as the other Kurosaki that she had once known.

After she had bathed and braided her long hair, she decided she could not avoid it any longer. Leaving her new division she walked leisurely to the headquarters of division five. She had been filled in on what had happened with the previous captain of this division. Despite being secluded in the icy wilderness she had been briefed on the war, and was ready to be called to fight in it. The call had never come, whether it was because she was not needed, or there was no time. Now the hero of the war, Kurosaki Ichigo had taken up the division of the man that apparently only he could defeat. To say that she was curious would be wrong, she was actually incredibly intrigued. Nothing could prepare her for the scene she would walk in on though.

To say that the tiny, raven haired woman was kicking his ass, might have been an understatement of the current situation. The tall, orange headed captain was face down on the floor, with the woman standing, one foot on his back, the other on his head. She had his left arm pulled into a painful looking position as she yelled at him like some sort of banshee from Hueco Mundo.

"Ichigo! You fool, why do you have to provoke him so much! You know that brother's state of mind has been altered lately!" The small woman's voice was shouting as she totally schooled the young looking captain.

A muffled scream came back from the face that was firmly embedded in the floor.

Akai decided this was as good of time as any to interrupt what was happening in a captain's office. She coughed loudly, earning the wide violet eyes of the tiny woman to be turned towards her. For a split second, only a split, Akai wondered if she should feel fearful of the mighty woman who was totally owning the war hero, Kurosaki Ichigo.

Then the woman smiled lightly and sighed at her, releasing her grip and walking away from the prone man with only a light kick to his ribs.

"Sorry about that, I am the fuko-taicho of the thirteenth division, Kuchiki Rukia." Her eyes were bright and happy looking and she spoke with a genuine tone. Her last name though… was Kuchiki, and if there was one thing that Akai had learned the hard way, it was that friendly and "Kuchiki" did not go hand in hand.

With a slight bit of hesitation Akai rose her chin and stated, "Taicho of the third division, Ryuu Akai, reporting for training with Kurosaki taicho."

"Tch! He is a fool!" The Kuchiki stated with all of her cold nobility, but then her face softened, "But, he is a good leader, Ryuu taicho." With that the young woman bowed lightly and walked from the office, leaving two bewildered captains in her wake.

_**XXXX**_

Kurosaki was nothing like she expected, he was young, respectful, and very humble for the fact that he had single handedly saved the world. Akai had to admit to herself, that she would have probably been more cocky if roles were reversed. However, Kurosaki had lamented to her about how boring paperwork was, how tiring captains meetings could be, and how lame seireitei politics really were. For the first time since returning she felt herself actually wanting to smile due to the strangely charismatic young man. His questions to her were straight forward and it made her feel open to trusting him with honesty in return.

"What division were you in before this?" The deathberry asked as they leaned on the railing overlooking the 5th division training grounds.

"Eleventh"

"Ah! So you know Kenpachi and Ikkaku?"

For the first time in many years her lips tilted in a half smile, "No, this Kenpachi is a new one… although I am interested to meet him. It seems as though he has brought the pride of battle back to the eleventh."

"Tch! If you call running all over the seireitei challenging me to fight to the death a return to pride!" Kurosaki mocked with his own half smile.

They both laughed lightly and returned to watching the squad members run drills on the training grounds. He had really set up a great training system and all of his subordinates really respected him. She snuck her eyes to the side to study the young man. The first thing that set him apart was his ridiculous orange hair, with all of its messiness blowing about in the light breeze. His brown eyes were deep and thoughtful as they took in what was happening on the field. While he had an air of youth about him, there was definitely the quietness of a mature man that was not to be missed, and he was definitely not unattractive.

She shook her head with her eyes closed as she turned from the field, "So, a Kuchiki huh? You seemed smarter than that."

"Huh? Oh… yeah, Rukia." He reached to rub the back of his head. "She is a Kuchiki, but she is different. Byakuya adopted her, because of his wife."

"Wife?" It spilled out of her mouth before she could stop it. Somehow it just didn't seem like anybody would want to marry the pompous man.

Kurosaki closed his eyes and sighed, "I don't know if it is my place to talk about it really. I don't really know that much. She was Rukia's sister, she was from the Rukon District, and she didn't live very long. To be honest I don't think that Byakuya has ever gotten over it, but I didn't know him before, so who am I to say." He had spoken fast without pause for breath, as he finished his face was scowling.

It seemed like a place to insert an insult to lighten the mood, but she was rendered temporarily speechless. No matter what he had ever done to her, she would not wish something like that on her worse enemy. It was easier to lose one's life, than the life of a loved one. A lot of things had changed in 80 years, and she had a lot of ground to gain yet.

"Oi!" She exclaimed to lift the strange melancholy that had fallen, "Kurosaki Taicho, do you like sake? I used to know a great little bar."

_**XXXX**_

Once again the early morning did not find her with an optimistic attitude. Today she was supposed to report to the sixth division. The memory of the captains meeting was weighing heavily on her mind though. Kuchiki had made it quite clear that he did not want her to come anywhere near his division. Immediately memories shoved up against her mind, and she remembered the look on his face as she had pushed her blade against his neck. There was not enough sake in the world to erase that from her conscious. Eventually she was going to have to confront him and it might as well be today, she thought straightening her haori and pushing her hair around.

It had been about twenty minutes standing in front of the sixth division headquarters, before she finally saw someone exit the building. He was tall with outrageous red hair and lots of tattoos. In turn, he stopped next to her and stared, as she gazed emptily at his division.

An eyebrow quirked towards the red mane, "Errr…taicho…?"

Without turning her head from the sixth division insignia on the building she slid her eyes towards him, noticing his fuko-taicho badge.

"Is Kuchiki in there?" She asked, hoping her voice did not have as much apprehension in it as she had felt.

"Hai Taicho." He replied with a bit of confusion.

Akai simply grunted at him before flash stepping away, and into the division. Flash step took away her chance to hesitate, or to think. Within a blink she was standing in front of his desk, as he simply continued doing paperwork without looking up.

"What are you doing here?" The monotone voice asked.

Her eyes narrowed, it took less than three seconds and he had already pulled his condescending bullshit on her. A deep breath surged into her lungs as she remembered; she had 80 years in ice hell to teach her to not let emotions get the best of her.

"It's my duty to be here, and your duty to teach me… Kuchiki" his name was strangled as it came from her lips. But she held her shit together dammit!

"No." Was all he replied with, without even looking up to meet her eye.

The old rage washed through her body as she glared at him. Of course he was going to make this difficult for her! There was no fucking way she was ever going to apologize to him! Yeah, she had lost her cool and thought about killing him, but he was the one who attacked. He was the reason she lost 80 damn years of her life!

"Kuchiki, look me in the eye when you speak to me at very least." She managed to keep her voice level and calm.

His eyes shifted up to her, and that was when she saw it. Nothing. There was nothing there anymore. No anger, no hatred, no _**fire,**_ no emotion at all, as if he were wearing a perfectly chiseled mask of the Kuchiki Byakuya that she had once known. It took her a second to realize that he was waiting for her to speak her mind, his eyes had just caught her off guard.

"Kuchiki, you and I are required by duty to be comrades now. I am no happier about it than you are, but we have to find a way to at least be polite to one another."

"It was my swordsmanship that you hated, am I right Ryuu?" His hands had folded together in front of him as he looked at her with those creepy blank eyes.

"While I would _never_ trust your swordsmanship to save my skin, Kuchiki, what has always bothered me about you, is you." Surprise tinkled at the back of her mind as she commended herself for keeping such an even tone with this man.

"Seven tonight, the clearing." Upon saying those words he returned his attention to the paperwork on his desk.

She knew exactly what clearing he was talking about, and she knew that this was a direct challenge.

"Planning on having me exiled again, Kuchiki." She snarled at him.

His head snapped up and his eyebrows were knit together, and in those blank eyes stirred just a small amount of fire, it may have only been smoke. She smiled sarcastically at him before turning and stalking out of his office. It would be interesting to see how much his swordsmanship had changed in the last 80 years, perhaps now he could land a real blow.

_**XXXX**_

_**Well there it is. Chapter three. Whew. Big things happening in the next chapter which is titled "When Push Comes to Shove." Hopefully I will have it up in the next day or so. Depends on if I get some more Sake to help with the creative process.**_

_**Song for this chapter**_

"_**You wanted More" By Tonic (of the "Sugar" album)**_

_**Love is tragic, love is bold  
>You will always do what you are told<br>Love is hard, love is strong  
>You will never say that you were wrong<br>I don't know when I got bitter  
>But love is surely better when it's gone<br>'Cause you wanted more  
>More than I could give<br>More than I could handle  
>In a life that I can't live<br>You wanted more  
>More than I could bear<br>More than I could offer  
>For a love that isn't there<br>Love is color, love is loud  
>Love is never saying you're too proud<br>Love is trusting, love is honest  
>Love is not a hand to hold you down<br>I don't know when I got bitter  
>But love is surely better when it's gone<strong>_


	4. Chapter 4

_**Here it is, chapter four. This chapter is pretty short, but it is very intimate. I know there is probably typos, it almost wrote itself and I was so excited to share it. Please review and critique. Like I have stated before, this is my first ever fan-fic and I want to know how I am doing!**_

Disclaimer: I don't own bleach.

_**Kuchiki Byakuya and the new captain of division three, Ryuu Akai meet in a clearing at 7:00pm.**_

_**XXXX**_

Light was fading rapidly, leaving long shadows and an eerie feeling. If he let himself, apprehension would be creeping into his chest. It had been many years since he had been to this specific area of the Rukon District. Outside of the upper level settlements was a vast forestland, and in that wilderness was "the clearing". A large arena of grassland sat cradled by trees and tall hills, creating a perfect place for young recruits to practice without the fear of harming innocent bystanders.

His eyes quickly scanned the area before he saw her form leaning against a tree at the far edge of the opening. With arms crossed, the wind gently played with the loose bangs that framed her face. He knew that she had felt him approach, yet her eyes were closed and slight smile sat on her full lips. She had always been so full of herself, arrogant. In the time that she had been gone her appearance had changed quite a bit. Still a lithe build of a warrior, she was an attractive woman, yet her features had taken on a caste of bitterness. It was an animosity that in his careless youth he had caused. His pride dictated that he set it right, and with this woman the only way to communicate was with a crossing swords. Quietly, he stood with his arms at his side, observing her as his opponent. The breeze caught his hair as well as the bottom of the white haori that he wore. Her haori was absent and she wore a sleeveless form of the shihakusho. Briefly he wondered where the scar that marked her pale face had come from.

Her alto voice sounded almost like a growl as it broke the silence, "No surprise attack, Kuchiki?"

"I have no need for that sort of tactic." Answering her taunt he strode to the center of the clearing and calmly rested his hand on the hilt of his zanpakuto. Closing his eyes he checked in with his body, slowly raising his heart beat and calming his breath rate to slow and steady. Her reiatsu approached, it was hot and tinged with anger.

"That is a new style for you, Kuchiki!" Opening her steel eyes, she continued, "No sword release, this is a fight between our strengths, not the strength of our zanpakuto." He was not surprised to hear her words. Surely she had spent the day doing a bit of research on him, just as he had done with her. When looking up her sword release he had seen it's name and that it's attack could be volatile. Of course a zanpakuto with the name of "Sensou" would be unpredictable, just as war usually was.

Drawing Senbonzakura, he positioned himself for the fight. The only change he noticed in her as he did this is that one side of her mouth tilted up slightly. "You're no fun anymore, Kuchiki!"

In the next instant her weapon was out, she blocked his blow perfectly with her blade held horizontally across her body. He pushed against her, so that her face was only inches from his own, with Senbonzakura acting as a force between them. If she had been surprised by the speed and strength of his attack her eyes did not give it away. Grey irises studied him through half lidded eyes.

"Do not taunt, Ryuu, it's unbecoming of a leader." He shoved back from her and braced himself for her attack.

_**XXXX**_

Darkness had fallen and the sound of swords rang out through the forest.

_Feint, block, strike, parry_

With the speed they moved it would be near impossible for an observer to follow their movements.

_Deflect, sidestep, slash, attack_

Their breaths came hard and fast, sweat glistened on the moonlit faces of the sparring warriors.

_Slice, evade, twist, __**dance**_

Every step, every motion was perfectly controlled and timed. Man and woman danced around each other as their swords sang out with each strike. Few things in the life of a shinigami were more intimate than this type of battle. Two well matched fighters come together for what can only be described as euphoric.

An hour passed…

_**XXXX**_

Part of her felt proud as she stood panting, sword up and grasped in both hands in front of her. Many years ago a boy had been her pupil, and now he was a completely different man. His moves were timed perfectly; he was calm and collected as he fought. The pride she held in herself though, it made up the other part of her mind. Something ran down into her eye, was it sweat? Was it blood?

His breathing was rapid from the exertion, but his face remained the perfect mask of calm. He held his weapon in one hand and to his side. She recognized the stance, it was her own, the stance she took when she felt confident in a spar. He vanished from her sight.

Before she could blink she was blocking another blow from him. Seconds became hours. His warm breath flashed across her face as he prepared for another attack. Once, a long time ago, his midsection had always been open in an attack, but now she could not make the strike hit flesh. _**PAIN!**_

His zanpakuto bit into her right shoulder. Anger filled her; it had always been her weakness in an attack. He had gotten better, she was the same. Her eyes shifted to the side as he retrieved his weapon from her flesh. Eye contact. There was the fire, it was burning low, but it was in his eyes again. The moment passed, she successfully blocked his next blow.

She had to rethink her strategy. Obviously he had become a different fighter than the reckless boy she had known in her youth. Then it flashed through her mind, his stance, his block, his attack. Every hit he had gained on her was when he was using her fighting style. A twitch formed at the corner of her mouth as she made herself ready to finish this fight.

As before, he came in high to strike at her shoulder. She feinted at his midsection, knowing that is what he expected. Before committing to the strike her posture and center of gravity changed. His blow was dodged by her swinging herself to the outside of his sword arm. His eyes widened in surprise as her zanpakuto was brought down on his right shoulder, severing the muscles responsible for control. The left fist of the man came around and knocked her squarely in the eye as he slid past her. Despite the pain, she smirked. The punch was smart, it bought him time.

Grasping his right arm with his left hand he stared at her, and finally the fire was on full bore. Her face hurt, her shoulder hurt, she was feeling the impact of this battle on every part of her. The only option she had was to end it quickly. With flash step she charged.

Somehow his sword appeared in his left hand to block her attack. Confused, she watched him as he leaned back. His foot swung into her midsection and sent her flying.

Pummeling into a boulder she came to a rest as his blade pushed against her throat. She could not catch her breath, she was certain several ribs were broken. The coldness of his blade bit at the skin on her neck and she could feel a trickle of blood rushing down to her collar bone. His nose was almost touching hers. Their faces hovered, centimeters apart. Every part of his body was melded against hers as he held her captive against the stone to her back.

She stared into his eyes, he had beaten her. How? The fire was out of control in his steel blue eyes as he stared back at her with his unmoving mask on. His slightly panting breath was hitting her face, it was warm and a strange sensation rose up in her gut.

Just as suddenly as the fire storm had appeared in his eyes, it mellowed. What appeared to be emotion twitched on his face for a fraction of a second. His sword dropped, and he stepped away from her body.

"I'm sorry, Akai"

With that he vanished from the clearing, leaving her with a wave of confusion and anger washing over her.

_**XXXX**_

_**Well there it is. Like I said, it is short, but it is our first real meeting of these two in present time. Things are far from over as obviously there are a lot emotions involved.**_

_**Clarification: Byakuya just apologized to Ryuu by using her first name. This is obviously a very intimate moment. The apology is not for defeating her here. This apology is for her exile. I wanted that to be very clear. **_

_**Song for this chapter:**_

"_**Kiss with a Fist" Florence and the Machine ("Lungs" album)**_


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: If you didn't know, I don't own Bleach. These are Tite Kubo's characters. The only one I own is Ryuu Akai.

_**This chapter was really difficult for me to write. It is bridge chapter, linking what has been happening, to what is coming up in the future. **_

_**In the past few days I broke down and read some OC x Byakuya fanfictions. I feel pretty confident in my OC now. If you are looking forward to a swooning woman falling before the Kuchiki lord begging for love, probably better stop reading now. That won't be happening here. Nobody swoons in my stories. I have however, been really enjoying writing the battle scenes. The next three chapters or so are going to be very action packed. I can't wait!**_

_**XXXX**_

For the past four days she had felt extremely volatile. No matter what she did, she could not calm the storm raging inside of her. That man had ruined a beautiful battle with an apology. What gave him the idea that he had any right to apologize to her? That was the last thing she was after; she was no meek woman waiting around for somebody to apologize. Most likely it had to do with his damn sense of nobility. She would have been happier if he spit in her face. The past was the past, and she sure as hell was going to leave it there. Kuchiki Byakuya was fool. Did he need her forgiveness anymore than she needed his pity? Very doubtful.

Posture rigid, she stalked into her old division, the eleventh. Today she would be immersed in the familiar; today she would meet the new Kenpachi and leader of the battle hungry squad. The title of Kenpachi went to the strongest shinigami of each generation. It did not escape her notice that his name was Zaraki Kenpachi. Zaraki… he was from her native district. Water practically ran red with all of the bloodshed in the most violent district of the Soul Society. She flung the double doors to the captain's quarters open forcibly, as she released all control that she had over her reiatsu.

"Kenpachi!" She practically howled the name in fury as she unsheathed her zanpakuto. "It is your turn to train the new captain!"

The giant man with spiked hair looked up with a maniacal grin from his lounging position near a window. "Heh! Somehow I just knew I was gonna like you!" A shudder shook the seireitei as two heavy reiatsus were released.

_**XXXX**_

The eleventh division training grounds was in more ruin than typical as the two captains had literally beat on each other throughout the day. At the moment they stood facing each other. Kenpachi had his zanpakuto slung over his shoulder and a haughty grin cracked his face. Ryuu was bent forward, blood pouring from a particularly deep wound on her side. She coughed and blood spilled onto the packed dirt. The smile that wrenched over her face looked like a wolf bearing its teeth.

"Finally… finally, somebody worth a shit!" she gasped at him as she used her sword to hold up her tired body.

Laughter boomed across the training grounds, "You're not so bad yourself woman!" He shouted as he sheathed his sword. In comparison his wounds were minor, but she had not failed to cut him.

"Ken-chan had fun with Crazy!" Squealed the tiny vice-captain from her seat on the ruins of a nearby wall.

Her world had been tinged red since her encounter with the captain of the sixth division. After her anger fueled spar with Kenpachi her vision was finally clearing, her fury was spent. The release felt so good as her body began to tingle, she chuckled a last time as everything went black.

_**XXXX**_

The cot that she woke up on was not comfortable at all, but as she opened her eyes she recognized the familiar room. A special ward had always been set aside for the eleventh division inside the fourth division. It was a daily occurrence for at least a few shinigami serving the eleventh to end up in this ward.

As she sat up to take inventory of her injuries and bandages a familiar presence entered the room. Akai looked up into the smiling face of captain Unohana.

"I'm disappointed in you Ryuu taicho" Her smile became sweeter and her eyes opened as she looked down on her patient.

Fear went racing up Akai's spine. "I-I, um… I'm sorry, I just…" Choking on her words she realized how stupid her spar with Kenpachi had been.

"Try not to let it happen again please. You have an entire division that depends on you now Ryuu taicho."

"Uh… of course."

"It must be hard, coming back after all of these years. I am glad that you have found a friend in Zaraki taicho." This time her voice was friendly and understanding. The tenseness in Akai's shoulders melted away as she relaxed. Unohana had not lost her ability to see straight to the heart of the situation.

Akai sat quietly as the healer removed the bandages from her torso and did an examination. For the most part the wounds were completely healed, leaving hardly a scar behind. When she had been exiled in the living world, there had been no healers to help her. She thought about the scar on her face and almost smiled to herself. Kidou had never been her strong suit, but she had managed to save her own eye using it. It was one scar she would never give up.

"Everything is looking very good Taicho. Which reminds me, there is a captains meeting in an hour. I think you are more than well enough to attend."

"Thank you Unohana taicho, for everything." Akai looked straight up at the woman from her seated position, hoping to convey her meaning.

_**XXXX**_

After leaving the fourth she decided to swing into her division and get cleaned up before the captains meeting. Upon walking into the office she noticed piles of paperwork and a very tired looking blonde man. His eyes seemed sad as he ran his brush over the form he was busily filling out. She stood and watched him quietly; he was her fuko-taicho after all. In her briefing from the head captain she had been told all about this man, but she hadn't hardly spoken with him. So far she didn't particulary care for him one way or the other, but it seemed that he had been carrying the division on his own.

"Kira fuko-taicho?" Her voice was quiet and calm; she didn't want to alienate this subordinate.

Blonde hair covered half his face as he looked up at her with his emo expression. He visibly gulped before answering her, "Hai".

"I think I am done following around other captains for awhile, tomorrow I want you to take me around your division. Go home for tonight, you can use that paperwork to train me with tomorrow." Dismissing him with a flick of her wrist she turned to leave.

"Ryuu taicho!" She stopped at his raised voice and looked over her shoulder with a puzzled look. "Thank you Taicho" His voice was almost a whisper as he looked to the side with a total lack of self-esteem.

It puzzled her as she made her way to her quarters. She did not want to think about how much work she was going to have to do to gain her vice-captains trust. As far as she could tell it was going to be awhile before he would put trust in anybody, including himself. Ichimaru Gin had certainly left a gigantic open wound in the third division. Ichigo had managed to rebuild the fifth division and brought an enormous boost in moral with him. Shuhei Hisagi was able to take his captains place in the ninth division and his men readily gathered under him. Curse her luck; she was a stranger, taking over for a man that had deceived everyone he knew for a greater cause. It was not difficult for her to understand the squads feeling towards her, she was an intruder.

After she combed through her hair she decided to put it into a single thick braid that fell nearly to her waist. She then changed her shihakusho and replaced her haori with a new one that had been recently delivered. The feeling of the bright red lining made her smile. The collar was stiff and upright, and she had chosen to go with the sleeveless style. She then completed her new look by tying on her red fur belt. It was a relief that the tailors had finished her own haori, having her own made it feel more real to her. No longer was she simply wearing the costume of a dead hero. Today at the captains meeting she would appear as herself, as the captain of third division.

_**XXXX**_

Fifteen minutes before the captains meeting started, she arrived. Since she was early she went and took a spot in the left line. Other captains still milled around talking to one another as Kurosaki Ichigo came to stand at her right. The time spent chatting over sake earlier in the week had sealed a friendship between the two new captains. Akai had to admit she really enjoyed the company of the vibrant young captain. In the next moment Kuchiki Byakuya came to stand on her left side. Ichigo made a snorting sound and threw an elbow into her; she slid her eyes to the side and glared at him.

Her mind however, was a house divided. The sleeve of Kuchiki's shihakusho was brushing lightly against her arm and her senses all screamed out about his proximity. Betraying her in the worst way, her stomach had decided to have flip flops. Yet, her fists itched to feel the crunch of his nose breaking under them. Conflicting emotions caused a slight heat to rise to her face, and Ichigo did not fail to notice the light blush across his new friends face.

Deathberry smirked evilly before elbowing her yet again. It pissed her off. "Kurosaki, how have you and miss Kuchiki been doing?"

A half smile tilted her face as Kurosaki promptly sobered, at the same time she felt Kuchiki tense on her left. Two birds, one stone. The win goes to Ryuu.

Twelve captains had been assembled by this point in two lines of six before the head captain. As Sou-taicho Yamamoto began to speak all petty emotion left her. The second division had carried out a mission in Hueco Mundo and had documented several cases of created arrancar throwing off the balance of the alternate after-life. In order for the flow of souls to remain balanced, something had to be done. Yamamoto was going to form a team of captains to enter Hueco Mundo and exterminate the unnatural arrancar, who were probably old remnants of the war.

Zaraki sent a war whoop into the air at the news, while next to her Ichigo issued a low and primal growl. As for her, the red began to climb into her senses and cloud her vision. This time she reveled as her vision changed from color to a crimson shaded world. She could feel her lips pull back in a feral grin as she hissed lightly under her breath. The petty human-like emotions such as like and dislike had nowhere to dwell in her world now, not with a new battle sprawled out before her. The hunt, it was a beautiful thing, it was the thing she was born and bred for.

_**XXXX**_

_**Ichigo's POV**_

Five captains were chosen to go to the living world, and from there they would enter Hueco Mundo via a gargantua created by Urahara Kisuke. Ichigo thought about the team that he had been paired with. Obviously Unohana would be coming to provide medical relief. Kenpachi and Byakuya were both Hueco Mundo veterens, but Ryuu had never been there. He knew she was just as battle hungry as Kenpachi, but he wondered if she was really prepared for what they we were going into. When her name was announced in the captains meeting the hilt of her zanpakuto had glowed, she had turned her face slowly towards him. The look on her face still haunted him a bit; her eyes had a red rim about the dilated pupils, her usually conservative smirk was replaced by a toothy grin. Had her teeth always been so fang-like? Did she always look like a feline moments before the chase? Ichigo knew the strengths and weaknesses of the others; he had fought them AND fought side by side with them. He had no idea if she even had a Bankia, but if the meeting was any indication, maybe it was of the sort he did not want to see.

_**XXXX**_

_**In the next chapter we are going to have some Urahara and Yoruichi time! I love them together! I feel as though their pairing is almost canon in the manga. Not to mention both of them are just so awesome! Yay. **_

_**Song for the Chapter**_

"_**Bullet with Butterfly Wings" by the Smashing Pumpkins (Mellon Collie Album)**_

_**Next Chapter: An emerging battle**_


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.

_**Another challenging chapter. As we journey farther into this, we have to see what is going on **__inside__** Kuchiki Byakuya. So I have to give a big thanks to my husband who listened to the Byakuya scene several times and helped me change it around to keep the stoic man in character.**_

_**Also I want to give a huge thanks to LittleRin26 for her reviews! While I am writing this story mostly for myself I have been so excited to see what others think of it! Thank you so much!**_

_**I decided I would put my inspirational song at the beginning this time. I really struggled with the emotion that goes on in this chapter, and this song was so fitting. So if you have it around, take a listen while reading!**_

"_**Hold On" By Good Charlotte Specifically these lyrics:**_

"_**Your days  
>You say they're way too long<br>And your nights  
>You can't sleep at all<br>Hold on  
>And you're not sure what you're waiting for,<br>But you don't want to no more  
>And you're not sure what you're looking for,<br>But you don't want to no more  
>But we all bleed the same way as you do<br>And we all have the same shit to go through"**_

_**Here we go! Karakura Town!**_

_**XXXX**_

Within the week the captains were in the living world, stationed at Urahara's Shoten waiting for the opening of a gargantua. Akai had spent the three days after the meeting with her new vice captain learning the basic operations of the third division. She was finding that it was mostly bureaucracy and paperwork, but she had to admit she was excited about her squadron and already proud of them.

Her current mystery though was this gigi that Urahara had given her. All movements and senses were slow and dull, almost as if she was slogging through soup. While everyone else seemed relatively used to their gigi, she was struggling with the meat suit. She had never worn one before. Not only that, but Urahara had taken some creative licensing in creating her new form. He had taken away her scar and had her hair in a high pony tail, and the dress he chose… well it was not something she would typically pick… ever.

Yoruichi smiled at her as she helped her find her balance in the slow moving gigi. "This is just so that you can go out and enjoy the city, while we finish setting up the gargantua. We had to make a gigi that would blend in with the humans, so that you don't draw to much attention."

"Ah. I'm just not very comfortable in this, I still do not see any reason to interact with humans either." Replied Akai with a frustrated voice.

Rukia sat nearby in her own gigi helping the two older women, "it will be fun, I promise! Ichigo has lined up a bunch of things for us to do tonight. It is always nice to have a bit of calm before a mission."

At this point she decided to give in. With a sigh she resigned herself to her fate, not without taking note on how much the soul society had changed in the last few decades. She somehow thought most of it had to do with Kurosaki Ichigo.

_**XXXX**_

He watched quietly from his spot near the wall as the three women entered the meeting room. When he noticed what she was wearing though, Byakuya had to close his eyes and feign deep thought. The dress was grey and sleeveless, it fit her form perfectly clear down to where it ended mid thigh. Knee high boots had made her legs look impossibly long and her hair looked like a golden waterfall down the back of her tall, slim figure. These were things he should not be noticing. This whole evening had so far been a trying practice in patience.

When he opened his eyes again, his vision was filled with an entirely too close green and white striped hat shadowing the eyes of Urahara Kisuke. A fan snapped open in Byakuya's face, causing a breeze to brush the raven hair from his unmoved features. "Hmmm, it seems you like what I've done to the Ice Queen, huh?" Urahara's voice was in a low mocking tone as he lilted along in sing song. "You have always had such nice looking teachers, Kuchiki, I'm jealous!"

"Enough." Byakuya said to the annoying man, pushing past him to make an exit. This type of thing was not what they were here for.

"Awww, Kuchiki, where do you think you are going?" Urahara called out to his retreating form. However, Byakuya found no reason to answer the man. There was one fortunate thing about all of the team leaving the shoten tonight. He would be left alone to do his meditations before entering enemy territory tomorrow. Without a gigi he flash stepped away from the small shop traveling along the rooftops of Karakura town.

After putting some distance between himself and the disgraceful scene of shinigamis playing human dress up, he settled on the top of a sky scraper. His eyes wandered over the city, it was rather breathtaking with all of the lights illuminating the nightscape. Just as he lowered himself to a seated position a familiar presence appeared behind him.

"What do you want, Shihouin."

"Drop the formalities, Byakuya-bo." The dark skinned woman gracefully sat next to him on the edge of the high rise building.

A comfortable silence settled over the two as they sat watching over the spirit rich town. It was a relief to him that for once his flash step sempai was honoring his need for quiet. However, he knew that she was here for something. Small talk was a waste of time to him, but he knew she would tell him bluntly what she was after when she felt like it. Shihouin Yoruichi was not one for small talk either.

He watched as she pulled a familiar red ribbon from the wrappings of her pony tail. She ran it through her fingers absent mindedly. The far off look in her eyes told him that she was deep in thought about something.

"Byakuya, you are a god of death, a shinigami." She paused for a deep breath, as he wondered what she was toying at. "Everyone in that room tonight will probably be met with a gruesome death in battle; it's very unlikely that any of us will see a peaceful end. It is because we are shinigami, and we all accept our duty."

His voice was calm, "I know what my duties are, Yoruichi."

She sighed and played with the ribbon a bit more before tying it back into her hair. Leaning back on her hands she stared over her shoulder towards the small shop far behind them. Byakuya knew she was thinking about Kisuke, he had seen that look on her face often when she was his sempai. Those two had been inseparable for well over two centuries. No matter the cost, the two had worked together as comrades in a battle and lovers behind closed doors. His thoughts turned to _her_, he could still imagine her deep purple eyes and tinkling laughter as if it had been just yesterday. A pain rose in his chest, and he stomped it down while keeping his face carefully void of the rising emotion. Part of him would always be a bit jealous of the life time of memories that Yoruichi and Kisuke had gotten to share.

Yoruichi's voice was soft as she broke him from his thoughts, "There is no part of your duty that says you have to die alone, Byakuya-bo."

The words ripped through his self control, and he felt the pain rise forcefully again in his heart. There was no way to describe how badly he missed _her, his Hisana._ His eyes were closed as he battled with his inner torment. Yoruichi's presence faded as she knew he wanted to be alone. As soon as she was gone he let a ragged sigh leave his body as he slumped forward allowing a small amount of wetness to flow down his face. Somehow his old acquaintance and sempai had opened a painful inner wound that he had carefully stored away with most of his other emotions. It was going to be a long night.

_**XXXX**_

Morning found the five captains preparing for departure in the vast training grounds beneath Urahara's shop. Akai had, much to her surprise, really enjoyed the night in the living world. The group had dinner at beautiful restaurant together and she felt it did really help calm her before the battle. Yachiru had insisted that "Crazy" go see the penguin exhibit at a nearby museum with her. Inwardly she smiled, she liked the hyper little vice captain, and could not possibly tell her that she had seen more than enough penguins for a life-time. Upon returning to Urahara's shoten, Rukia had them raise a glass of sake and say a chant that the last team had shared before parting ways in Hueco Mundo. Rukia would not be going with them, and from the way that she held Kurosaki's eyes through her speech; it was obvious that the ceremony had a deep meaning for them.

The young Kuchiki woman stood back holding the hand of Yachiru as the young girl busied herself with a large lolli-pop. Akai had not missed the slight moment of good-bye between the small woman and the captain of the fifth division. It had been so brief, almost unnoticeable. Rukia called him a fool, told him not to be killed, and as she turned from him, her hand briefly reached out to brush his chest. That was when Akai decided that those two were something special, it was lucky that they were such close comrades.

Now the five faced battle together. Orders were to locate and exterminate 9 arrancar class hollows that had been scouted in Hueco Mundo. The gargantua split open in front of them, and Akai reached down inside of her soul to call upon her battle instincts. Red rushed into her vision from the peripherals like floodwater into a valley. A familiar presence greeted her with a blood thirsty growl as she placed her hand on the crimson hilt of her zanpakuto and followed the others into the gateway.

_**XXXX**_

_**There it is, chapter 6! Actually to be honest the chapter six I had originally outlined had to chopped in half. So the next half will be coming around hopefully tomorrow. Well I am gonna go throw on my knee high boots and go watch some battle of the bands! I hope you all enjoy this chapter.**_

_**Next Chapter Title: A new Battle Begins: side II**_


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.

_**Here it is! Chapter Seven! I have been trying to update this every day, but this chapter posed a lot of difficulty for me. Writing arrancar is hard! Also I have to apologize, I think I have finally taken Byakuya a little OOC. It is essential for the story though. **_

_**Thank you for reviews and comments! I love hearing how you like the story!**_

Upon entering the midnight desert the five captains fanned out to find their quarry. Unohana was the only one who fell back to search for an area to be used as a base should it be needed. None of the warriors wanted to be in the eternally dark world any longer than absolutely necessary. Squad two had provided each of the captains with the reiatsu signatures of the unnatural arrancar so they could be searched out easily. Unfortunately neither Kenpachi nor Ichigo were very good as searching out the presences. Both men released their reiatsu in hopes of actually attracting their opponents to them.

Akai took off at a flash-step to a presence that was far from the others. If it came down to the release of her bankai, she did not want to endanger the others with it. The darkness caused her no problems as her vision was mostly shades of red now anyhow.

She stopped overlooking a barren basin and her eyes sped quickly from side to side as she searched for the figure releasing the reiatsu signature. The eerie moon cast shadows from the walls of the bowl in the sand, and she could see the glow of eyes reflecting in the darkness on the far side. Her eyes locked on to the twin lights as she drew her zanpakuto. A name whispered from her lips as she released her shikai, "Sensou."

As the name fell, the weapon in her hand lengthened and a sharp barb formed at end. The whites of her eyes vanished, as her irises spread from the center, crimson and feline. Slitted pupils dilated slightly as she took in her opponent's now clear form. Her zanpakuto was a formidable creature and was one of the few that changed the wielder even in the first release. Using her shikai "eyes" she could pin-point vitals, and strike with blazing speed and surgical precision. The barbed end insured more damage on the exit than the entrance and both sides of the blade could easily carve through steel. Heart pounding with excitement she leapt into the basin issuing a battle cry.

The arrancar lowered into a crouch as she approached. He was probably taller than her, but not by much. Remnants of a mask covered the left side of his face and his hair was long and untamed, shining black in the moon light. As she neared him he pulled a zanpakuto from its place behind his back and sprang towards her charging figure with murderous intent in his eyes. The sound of the two swords impacting sounded deafening in the silence of the desert.

"A little captain, just for me?" His voice sounded weary and worn to her ears.

"Ryuu Akai, Taicho of the third division, I will be your opponent"

A red glow began to form over the eye that the mask covered. Akai flung herself back and raised her zanpakuto to block the cero. The fact that he used that immediately made her realize that he was probably in a weakened state. As soon as the air cleared she charged him again watching for the slightest opening in his stance. Instead of blocking her, he dodged and retreated back.

"It was just a matter of time before you shinigami showed up to go another killing spree!" He knelt to one knee and held his zanpakuto out in front of him. "Palo de Fuego"

Involuntarily her eyes widened in surprise. He was already going into his released form. This meant that her previous observation was correct. For some reason he did not feel confident in fighting. Even if she did not end him quickly, she could probably finish him off just by having more endurance than he did. His face was now covered by the mask, with only one dark eye showing through a narrow gash. The zanpakuto he held had taken on the appearance of a sparring stick, except that it was made of flame. She suspected the weapon would probably have some sort of attack attached to it, and if her suspicions were right, it most likely would fire flames at her.

"Is there a reason you are rushing this?" she called out to him. If she could gather information from him it could potentially aide her or her comrades.

Lifting his weapon over his head he started to spin it quickly, as the speed built up he replied to her, "You are not the only being out in this desert that my reiatsu has attracted, it would be best to end you as quickly as possible!" An air of confidence came from him and it made her smirk. Just then the spinning stopped and he swung the fire stick much like a bat towards her. A large ball of flame flew towards her, she dodged easily to the side and flash stepped towards him.

The arrancar did not wait around for her attack. His retreat was fast as he left the basin and sped away over the sands.

"Shit!" Akai yelled. She charged after his retreating form as quickly as she could. Nothing pissed her off more than a coward. Obviously he was in no shape to fight, just that one attack and his reiatsu had dropped dramatically. It was time to do the humane thing and just end him

Easily over taking him, she swung in front of his moving form and used her shikai attack. Her eyes zoomed in on her target, she could see the pulse line on his neck jump, and she swung her zanpakuto quickly. He continued past her as she sealed her weapon and sheathed it, her eyes slowly returning to normal. She heard the gurgle as his beheaded body slid to a rest several feet past his fallen head. Turning towards him she watched as his body broke into tiny particles and disappeared into the air.

"He didn't even tell me his name." She mused over the fallen arrancar. Was it just that she happened upon the weakest of the group, or were they all going to be easy to dispose of. Closing her eyes she gave a respectful moment of silence to her prey, just as she had always done when cutting down an opponent. Silently she wished that the liberated souls would find new life better than where they had been.

After a few minutes she reached out internally, focusing on reiatsu signatures. She was surprised to feel that all four of the other captains were currently engaged with the enemy. Typically Unohara did not partake in that part of battle, and she had probably been attacked. However, the healer's reiatsu was level, as was Kenpachi's and Ichigo's. Surprisingly though, Byakuya's was fluctuating wildly and it was obvious that he was in Bankai. The arrancar that he faced had an incredible reiatsu, and there was a second reiatsu approaching his location from the west. Akai did not waste another second and took off to intercept the second arrancar approaching Byakuya. Hopefully he would not need back up anytime soon, she thought as she felt another wild flare in his reiatsu.

_**XXXX**_

His control over the situation was wavering. Anger swelled in him as he realized he should have pulled out of this mission as soon as his state of being had become… _disabled._ Now he realized he was going to be nothing more than a liability to the others in the field. The feeling had been creeping up on him since the end of the war, and he had ignored the slow leak in his emotional shields. Yoruichi had single handedly destroyed what was left of his self control. It had started when Ichimaru had struck out against the woman that looks so much like _her._ Depression had slowly dulled all of his senses, and now he was not only fighting the large arrancar before him, but himself as well.

Blood was running down from a gash in his side and it was burning hot against clammy skin. Fluttering blades whipped about acting as his shield as he desperately worked to shutter his own heart and take his battle stance. For over 65 years he had been existing in a state that could only be considered as half alive, and now, painfully, he was fully aware again.

The monster in front of him charged in for another attack, forging through the petal like blades like they were nothing more than an inconvenience. A battle axe zanpakuto swung and Byakuya called senbonzakura to block. An explosion of rieatsu shook the ground as the arrancar's zanpakuto impacted the wall of pink blades. Byakuya felt his own energy drop again greatly. He lifted his hand and narrowed his eyes, forcing himself to concentrate he fired a bolt of Byakurai at the enemy. It grazed an enormous shoulder causing the arrancar to laugh at him maniacally.

"You are not taking me seriously shinigami! Either that or captain class has really fallen since the old war!"

The normally stoic man knew that the hollow before him was correct. "_Am I trying to die here today?" _His own thought surprised him into action. He had already called out his bankai, but he was simply going through the motions while grappling with his crippled mental state. It was dishonorable, to his opponent, to his comrades, to his duty.

"Senbonzakura Kageyoshi." A fierce whirlwind of petals flew towards the arrancar, the captain narrowed his eyes as he directed the blades into a swirling ball around his enemy. Surging his reiatsu he focused on bringing the razor edged storm down on the arrancar. For a few moments he was able to call upon his battle instinct and used the pivotal scene to destroy the enemy who should have never been able to land a blow on him.

Eyes widened in surprise as he barely had a chance to turn to the powerful reiatsu that appeared behind him. "_A second!" _Cold steel ripped through his torso as the second arrancar attacked with a downward swing and wild eyes. Frantically Byakuya's mind reached out to recall senbonzakura, but the action was too late. The arrancar shoved a red glowing hand against the wounded captain's chest and broke into a crazed smile.

"Cero, fucker!"

_**XXXX**_

_**Yep, it's a cliffy. The good news is I will tell you the title of the next chapter so you can have sweet dreams of awesomeness.**_

_**Next Chapter: Ryuu's Bankia; Byakuya's Battle**_


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach

_**So much happens in this chapter! I cannot believe I posted two chapters today. My last chapter sucked so bad though, that I felt like I had to make it up to you guys! I look forward to tons of reviews, please feel free to flame me if you want!**_

_**After, during, or before this chapter I urge you to take a listen to "21 Guns" by Green Day which was a huge inspiration for this chapter. Or you can just look up the lyrics, either way I hope you get the point of what happens here.**_

_**XXXX**_

Horror filled her as she watched the cero being fired at point blank range into the man's chest. She had arrived too late to intercept the surprise attack. Moving as fast as she could towards the scene, it played out in front of her eyes in slow motion. Byakuya's body was limp as it fell back onto the sands in a fount of blood. The lithe arrancar was laughing as he kicked the prone body of the captain, sending the unconscious man flying several feet away.

As the sound erupted from her throat she knew that it sounded like something unholy, screaming wildly she fell upon the arrancar with her zanpakuto already in its released form. Completely out of control, a wild fire of rage and hatred ripped through her senses and flowed into her limbs. Swinging her sword with all of her strength she flung the blade down on the hollow again and again. The arrancar looked surprised by the ferocity of her attack but was blocking her blows, despite the fact that she was in shikai.

Unlike the war veteran captains on the field, this was the first time she had witnessed one of her allies fall. It was a terrifying and gut wrenching thing to behold. She wanted to protect her comrade and it was a new feeling, when had Kuchiki become a comrade?

_**~flashback~**_

_The coldness of his blade bit at the skin on her neck and she could feel a trickle of blood rushing down to her collar bone. His nose was almost touching hers. Their faces hovered, centimeters apart. Every part of his body was melded against hers as he held her captive against the stone to her back. _

The memory caused her reiatsu to surge around her in a display of shimmering red waves and she focused the energy into her attack. She was firmly in the offensive position, not giving the arrancar time to do anything more than defend himself. Rocking back onto the heels of her feet, she gave him a slight opening and he took it by slashing out at her with his zanpakuto.

"Bastard!" Her voice was still nearly a shriek as she crouched down beneath the range of his weapon. Gathering all the spirit energy she could, she rose from her position and sent him flying with a left hook.

Hoping that would stall him for a moment she shunpoed to the body of the Kuchiki noble. "_There is too much blood."_ A flutter of breath escaped with a quiet moan from his open mouth. The unconscious mans eyebrows where knit together and his face held a tightness of pain. She knelt and placed her left hand on his shoulder; closing her eyes she let her reiatsu flow into him. A tiny spike from his presence and her eyes fell back on his face as his eyes shot open. All guards were down as pain, anger, and confusion played in his granite eyes. His hand shot up and fisted into her haori pulling her off balance and onto him. A gasp of surprise escaped her as caught herself on her elbows so not to add injury to his severely injured chest.

"You!" He murmured with what sounded like excitement, his lips were just inches from her own. Eyes that had been cold and empty now looked hurt and confused. All of her senses were heightened as she searched his face, _"What the hell?"_

Everywhere that their bodies touched was burning, her breath was caught in her throat and she was unsure how to escape. He was so close to her, she could feel the mixing of their reiatsu, red and white waves twirled and danced around their two forms. One of his hands was still fisted in her haori, _the other was splayed across her lower back._

A heavy spike of dark reiatsu invaded her brain and brought her back to the present. "Uhhh…" She stammered pulling herself away and back into a kneeling position. Throwing a glance over her shoulder she realized she was out of time if she was planning on keeping this man alive. Looking once more on his face she saw that the curtains were closing over the emotions in his eyes. "Baka." Grabbing him up she positioned him over her shoulder carefully and flash-stepped about 300 yards away. Carefully she leaned him into a sitting position against a boulder. His voice was a whisper, "Your eyes…"

Fixing him with a stern look she ordered, "Do not move from this spot. I do not plan on unintentionally killing you with this. Do you understand me, Kuchiki?" His face was dead panned and she wasn't even sure if he was seeing her at all. All she could do was hope the man would stay put, she didn't have any more precious seconds to waste, all too aware of the hate filled reiatsu spiking behind them.

Flash-stepping away, she closed the distance between her and the enraged hollow, and she said a silent prayer to Kami that there was enough distance between them and the man as she whispered, "Ban…kia".

_**XXXX**_

_Shining black hair, breath taking pale skin, a sparkle of violet eyes, the woman wisped along as he followed her delicate laughter. Every time he reached out to brush her velvet skin she slipped away from him, calling over her shoulder, "Byakuya-sama". Softly he grasped to feel her hair as she floated out of reach again. So dainty and perfect, like a fresh bloomed flower, she was fragile and breathtaking. Silver silk wrapped about her faultless figure, finally, his fingers tangled into the watery fabric of her sleeve. She turned to him, her eyes were deep amethyst pools of mystery, a smile danced on her rose bud mouth. "My Lord?"_

"You!" he cried out to the woman of his dreams, his eyes searching for the scene that was rapidly melting in to darkness. Pain rose up and filled every part of his body. Consciousness rushed back over him like a tidal wave as his eyes focused on what was happening in reality.

The red eyes of a beast hovered before him, but they were soft and questioning as they studied him. They looked like shining rubies in set in a shadowed face. A light breeze drew his attention to the golden locks that framed the foreign features of the animalistic woman. As his vision adjusted to the dark of night, he could not help drinking in the beauty of the female that swam in his vision. Her brow was smooth and clear with fine, blonde eyebrows drawn together in a look of worry. She had high cheekbones that were tinged with a light blush. There was a light twitch in her refined jaw and her full pink lips were parted and glistening with the hint of light the moon gave. An angel of death, had come to take him, maybe Yoruichi was wrong about death in battle being so brutal. The weight of her body felt so right on his, his hand marveled at the muscular sway of her petite waist as he held her close. Once again his eyes raked over her glorious face, perfect except for the vertical scar running over her right eye. _Perfect except for the scar… Kuchiki Byakuya is not dying, he realized, Kuchiki Byakuya had been knocked out his honorable mind._

Before he could even react to the realization of where he was, and who she was, _**and**_ what his thoughts had been she wrenched away from him. Immediately he pulled himself together and shoved his emotions out of the front of his mind. In her low voice he heard her mutter, calling him a fool, and nothing inside of him could blame her for that. Then she was too close to him again as she put her arms around his waist and hoisted him gently to her shoulder. Fortunately the blinding pain blocked out any thought he could have. Blood seemed to be spurting from several locations, making him feel dizzy and sick. Extreme agony made him almost wish for death, but luckily before another black out, she was lowering him to the ground again, leaning him up against a boulder.

Their eyes locked, he had not been dreaming earlier. Taking note of the changed zanpakuto she held to one side, he knew she was in at least shikai. What in the hell was wrong with her eyes? Briefly he was reminded of a snake, nothing about those eyes looked like they had ever been human. The whisper left his traitorous tongue before he could control its actions, "Your eyes…", and those eyes narrowed in response.

"Do not move from this spot. I do not plan on unintentionally killing you with this. Do you understand me, Kuchiki?" What did she mean by that? At this point what could she do to finish him off that a cero, point blank none the less, to the chest hadn't done? Then he remembered the dark creature that had launched a cowardice ambush on him. Realization dawned on him, she was going back to face the hollow. She turned and sped off. Confusion, which was an unfamiliar emotion for him, pushed at his already frayed edges. Why had she bothered with him, why had she not already finished the enemy off? Her reiatsu suddenly thickened to the point it was choking him, and he realized she was releasing into bankai.

_**~flashback~**_

"'_No sword release, this is a fight between our strengths, not the strength of our zanpakuto.' He was not surprised to hear her words. Surely she had spent the day doing a bit of research on him, just as he had done with her. When looking up her sword release it had simply stated that it was volatile. " _

Gathering what was left of his senses he strained to see what would appear when the blowing sand settled. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end as a frightening howl echoed across the sands. Her long, pale hair had ripped free of its containment and was whipping furiously about her form in the turbulence her reiatsu was causing. The haori was gone, the sleeves of her shihakusho were absent, her pale skin shimmered in the moonlight. Extending from her right arm was what he assumed was her bankia. The gigantic dark form reminded him briefly of Komamura's giant samurai bankai. It was so far away, it was hard for him to tell exactly what was happening. Shame crept into his heart as he laid there injured, watching a woman he loathed fight for his life. With the shame came something else, anger, and coupled with the shame it was directed at himself. Perhaps he hated himself more at the moment than he hated the woman who had somehow swallowed her arrogant pride long enough to help him.

Filling his lungs with air and determination he gathered his energy and pushed onto his feet. The exertion caused him to release a burbling cough, and blood spattered onto the sand in front of him. Obviously he did not have much time to be dwelling on his own misery; he needed to protect his pride as a captain, a noble, and a man. Gritting his teeth in an attempt to over-ride the pain he flash stepped towards the warring figures on the horizon.

Coming closer he decided to deflect to one side and observe from a sheltered area a few hundred feet to the north. The closer he got to the flaring reiatsu of Ryuu, the closer his weakened form came to collapsing. This was the first time he admitted to himself that he was gravely injured, if left untended he would probably drown in his bloody lungs within the next hour. Sweating profusely he leaned up against a boulder, placing a hand over his chest, and began the chant for healing Kidou. While the glow was warm and soothing he could feel it sucking away what was left of his spirit pressure. Apparently his options were to either kill himself while trying to heal himself, or kill himself by attempting to fight. As if that was even a question to a Kuchiki.

He stumbled towards the field. Rounding a boulder, what he saw shocked him. Hair blowing out behind her, Ryuu stood staring blankly forward with the eyes of a beast. A fanged grimace was concreted on her face as her clothing clung to her svelte body. Around her right arm, that was held straight out to the side of her body, a sinewy black tail wrapped. The black dragon did not look solid as dark crimson waves of reiatsu leaped off of the massive figure like solar flames from the sun. Skin crawling roars were issued from both the woman and the beast as black flame erupted from the jaws of the kidou type bankai. What was left of the arrancar screamed and writhed in the attack unable to escape as he broke into spirit particles and vanished from this plain of existence.

Byakuya's eyes widened in surprise as he watched the overwhelming scene before him. Reiatsu boiling in the air suffocated him and he stumbled slightly, grasping the cold rock to steady himself. Pain erupted as he felt something internal snap loose as soon as the pair turned their enraged eyes and spirit pressure towards him. Blonde lashes framed flaming, blank eyes that bore straight through him. For the first time he felt fear in her presence, it was not her looking through the eyes of her zanpakuto. He fell forward, hands hitting the sand as a splatter of blood cascaded from his chest and mouth, splattering darkness onto the white sand. The zanpakuto was in control of the woman, which was why it was so damn volatile. Face first he crashed into the sand, unable to hold his broken body anymore as the fury filled wrath of a materialized zanpakuto plummeted over him. As the darkness took hold he realized that her eyes were void and black, the woman was no longer present.

"_Do you know what's worth fighting for?__When it's not worth dying for?__Does it take your breath away __and you feel yourself suffocating?__  
><em>_Does the pain weigh out the pride?__And you look for a place to hide?__Did someone break your heart inside?__You're in ruins"_

_**XXXX**_

_**Longest chapter so far. Over time I may come back and edit this one. A lot of things happen here. We see memories of Hisana, and we see Byakuya injured very severely. Just to be clear, I am not wanting the Kuchiki lord to appear weak here, but I do want it to be noticed that he has been incredibly injured, both physically and mentally. I hope you can all forgive me for what I have done here. 3**_


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach

_**XXXX**_

"Are you awake, Kuchiki Taicho?"

The woman's voice was laced with sweetness as she entered the room seconds after he woke. He turned his head towards her, realizing that somehow he had come to be in a sick bay in the fourth division.

"Unohana Taicho?"

She moved gracefully to the bed and helped him sit up, smiling serenely the entire time.

"How are you feeling? Is this causing you discomfort?" Unwinding the bandages slowly she began to examine his chest.

"It is tolerable. What of the mission?"

"Successful, the remainder of the team returned last night."

There were questions that he wanted to ask her. Before he could speak she continued in her gentle tone.

"It seems as though you were not yourself in this battle, Kuchiki Taicho. I have known you a long time, and this is not something that would typically happen to you. As the captain of the fourth division, both physical and mental health is my concern. That being said, is there something that has been troubling you?"

"I was caught off guard," he responded quickly, "I underestimated the enemy and made a mistake." He paused for a moment trying for the best way to phrase his question. "Ryuu Taichos zanpakuto was acting independently of her…"

"That is not surprising, Kuchiki Taicho," she cut off his sentence with a bit of shortness, "She is not the only Taicho who has a bankai capable of such things."

Byakuya recalled suddenly that Unohana's bankai was capable of operating in a similar way, yet hers was not of the brutal sort.

"I trust that she had control over her bankai state, Kuchiki Taicho, otherwise we would probably not be having this conversation." Unohana gave him a bone chilling smile as she stood and walked to the closet on the other side of the small room.

With her back to him as she retrieved something from the closet, she continued, "Whatever has been bothering you, Kuchiki Taicho, has obviously had its consequences. I was also under the impression that an understanding had been reached between you and Ryuu Taicho." She paused and hung something on a wall hook across from his bed. "It seems that there are still differences that exist between you two, but in my opinion, I think you should rethink your position." Moving to the exit she turned one last time and gestured to the thing she had just hung, "You owe her a debt for saving your life, or at least respect for assisting you in a challenging battle."

As she disappeared from sight, Byakuya looked at the article hanging on the wall. A cold sweat broke out on his skin and there was a strangling sensation in his throat. It was a haori, a torn and blood drenched haori, three vertical lines were embroidered above the insignia of the third division. He knew that it was not her blood covering the garment, but his own.

_**XXXX**_

A week had passed since they had returned from their mission to Hueco Mundo and she had hardly had a moment of peace since. Unohana Taicho had given Kuchiki a week of medical leave and Kurosaki Taicho had volunteered to assist the sixth in its paperwork load. Considering Zaraki's attention to detail, or rather complete lack of it, she had taken up the task of writing the mission report. Running her hand over her face she looked down at the thick stack of papers she had just finished. She had not left this office except for sleep in a week and she was feeling it.

"Here I was thinking this would be a more glamorous job" she huffed to herself.

"Taicho!" Kira burst into her office huffing, "The meeting starts in just a moment!"

"Shit, I must have lost track of the time. Thank you Kira." She swooped up the headache inducing report and shunpoed out of the room, heading for the first division.

She was the last captain to arrive and was feeling very flustered as she entered the meeting room. Looking around she felt a heat rise in her face at the situation before her. Typically the lines were formed based on order of arrival, there were not typically assigned spots. Yet there was an obvious space glaring at her from between Kurosaki and Kuchiki. Questioningly, she looked at Kurosaki, who just shrugged and tilted his head in the direction of the newly returned noble.

"Ryuu Taicho, please take your spot so that we can start this meeting!"

"Ah, yes Yamamoto So-Taicho!" Striding quickly she went to stand between the captains of the fifth and sixth division.

As the meeting started her thoughts turned inward, she had not seen Kuchiki since that day on the battle field. When he had fallen in front of her she had been certain that she had killed him. Never had she experienced such a deep concern, and she was still struggling with the strange emotions that seemed to be connected to the stoic man. Now here he was, right beside her, looking as nothing had happened. She had to admit she was nervous about summarizing her report tonight, but now that Kuchiki had arrived she was even more anxious. Closing her eyes she just focused on breathing until she was called to speak.

"Mission report, Ryuu Taicho."

"Hai, So-Taicho. Five captains of the gotei 13 deployed to Hueco Mundo under orders to exterminate nine unnatural arrancar. Mission was successful, and all nine arrancar were confirmed and destroyed in a span of two and half days. The team only sustained one major injury and Kuchiki Taicho was medically evacuated by Unohana Taicho on day one of deployment. Mission report is complete and copies will be submitted to each division."

Stepping back in line she tried to disappear as other captains asked questions on the report. She had felt the subtle shift in Kuchiki's reiatsu when speaking, and she was wondering why she was suddenly so tuned in on it. Fighting with her instincts she kept her feet glued to their spot as she wanted nothing more than to rush out of the room and away from the man near her. What had happened on that battle field was still lingering in her mind and the awkwardness was almost too much to handle.

_**~flashback**_

"_Everywhere that their bodies touched was burning, her breath was caught in her throat and she was unsure how to escape. He was so close to her, she could feel the mixing of their reiatsu, red and white waves twirled and danced around their two forms. One of his hands was still fisted in her haori, __**the other was splayed across her lower back**__."_

Cautiously her eyes wandered down to look at the guilty hand, hanging so near to her own. What had that been all about? She was certain that he had been in some sort of delirium when it had happened, but what she wasn't certain about is the way she had reacted to his touch. Kuchiki is the man who stole part of her life, he was insufferable, arrogant, and difficult. "_Insufferable, arrogant and difficult,"_ she repeated her new chant over again in her head as the meeting came to a close.

Without a backwards glance she shot out of the room, racing for the safe haven of her division. In a short moment she was back behind her desk, staring emptily at the paperwork in front of her. She picked up her brush and held it poised over the form sitting in front of her. "_I cannot be thinking about that man anymore, I really need to focus on anything else!"_

The brush nearly fell out of her hand as she realized that his presence had just entered her division. She refused to look up at him as he entered her office and stood right in front of her desk. It felt like she was suffocating, but she refused to give him the satisfaction of knowing that she was shaken.

"What are you doing here?" she said with her most uncaring voice without looking up from her papers.

A beautifully made captains haori dropped onto the form that she had still not even marked upon. It was crisp and new, with a fine red silk lining and bearing her insignia.

"I believe it was my fault that your haori came to ruin, I replaced it." Byakuya's voice had wavered slightly when he spoke. Her mouth turned up slightly as she looked up at him. His face was as set as always, but his eyes peered right back at her questioningly.

"Are you keeping my other one to cuddle with Kuchiki?" Her tone was light as she rewarded him with a full smile. It seemed that he was struggling with what had happened as well, so she may as well take the high road.

He just stared at her in return, which helped her in making up her mind. Determined she stood and walked around the desk pausing right next to him. Reaching up she laid a hand on his shoulder, she could no longer see his face as he stayed facing her desk, but she felt him tense under her touch.

"Thank you for the haori, it was very thoughtful of you." Gathering her bravery she continued, "And I am sorry that I added to your injuries… Byakuya."

His head snapped over to stare at her and she met his gaze. Feathery midnight locks fell over his slightly furrowed brow and stormy gray eyes pierced into her. "_Wow, have his eyes always been that color?"_ It felt like her heart was going to crawl out of her throat, and she desperately analyzed the situation for an excuse to escape his look. Gently she squeezed his shoulder before breaking her hand away and stepping past him to head towards the door.

Somehow he had grabbed her arm and spun her towards him before she had a chance to react. "Akia…" his voice was lower and anxious.

"You don't have to say it. We are comrades; you would have done the same." There was no way she could hear this proud man thank her, it would imply that it had not been her duty to help him. His grip on her arm loosened and she backed away from him. Smiling as bravely she spoke, "Well I have much to do Kuchiki, good evening." Turning as slowly as she could she walked with what hopefully looked like confidence out of her office and headed for her quarters. Behind her she could feel his presence fading away from the third division as he went his separate way.

Uncertain of what had just happened, she knew she would not be forgetting this encounter with Kuchiki Byakuya.

_**XXXX**_

_**Squee! I hope you all like it!**_

_**Iyashi**_


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach

_**Sorry I was not able to post yesterday, I was out of town on business. I did however write, and hopefully will be posting two chapters in the next 24 hours to make up for it.**_

_**Thank you so much for the reviews LittleRin26! I look forward to hearing from anyone else who is following this story. This story will be part one of a 6 story series! The next story to be told will be some IchiRuki!**_

_**XXXX**_

"_Speak few words, but say them with quietude and sincerity,_

_And they will be long lasting,_

_For a raging wind cannot blow all morning,_

_Nor a sudden rainstorm last throughout the day"._

_-Tao Te Ching: from Verse 23 "Sincerity"_

Life was normal, and it was a strange new concept for Ryuu Akai. High ranking in her society, good friends, and never did she have to look far for a sparring partner. Everything she could have dreamt of growing up in Zaraki had come to fruition. Somewhere inside of her however, she was missing a piece. While she had spent so many years striving for goals and freedom from exile, she had never noticed the strange empty space. Now an echo could be heard in her heart.

_**XXXX**_

The loudest, most obnoxious characters in the Soul Society were gathered in the small bar. Akai sipped her sake slowly from the bowl while smiling crookedly at the heated argument that was erupting in front of her. In the past couple of weeks she had become quite familiar with the antics of Kurosaki Ichigo and Kuchiki Rukia. Aside from these two shinigami, several vice-captains took part in a rowdy drinking game led by Matsumoto fuko-taicho.

Zaraki flung himself into the seat next to her causing the wooden stool to slide into her, "Oi, Ryuu! You know sake will dull your prowess!"

She raised an eyebrow at him as he shot back a saucer, "And what of your '_prowess'_, Zaraki?" Her tone dripped with snark and she put special emphasis on the innuendo.

"Heh! I'm bigger 'n ya!" As he reached for her bottle she grabbed a meat knife, spun it in her hand, and stabbed it into the table, successfully pinning his sleeve to the wooden top.

He threw a fanged smile towards the still quivering knife, "Bitch" he muttered.

Snorting softly she leaned back on her stool and crossed her arms, "Brute."

While Zaraki busied himself with freeing his arm and obtaining his own sake, Akai continued to look around. Matsumoto and Ayasegawa seemed to be comparing the ends of their hair, and both were thoroughly drunk. Near the bar, Abarai and Madarame were in a heated discussion, but Ryuu noticed that Abarai was constantly sneaking looks toward the petite woman with Kurosaki. It was clear that he had given her his heart at some point, but Kuchiki Rukia had firmly invested herself in the captain of the fifth division.

Once again, Zaraki pulled her from her observations, this time by slamming two fresh bottles of sake down on the table in front of her. Concern tinged her mood as she looked at the giant, tanked man, "Where is Yachiru?"

His laughter boomed next to her "She's at the Kuchiki fortress fuckin' with the prom queen's sanity!"

"The Kuchiki Manor?" Ryuu could hardly imagine that the boisterous vice-captain and the stoic noble had much in common.

"She calls it 'Hide 'n' Seek". That Kuchiki princess will spend most of the evening stomping from room ta room until he can get her caught and thrown out." Bells jingled as he knocked back some more drink, "so… I get a babysitter and the pleasure of pissing off ol' tight ass at the same time."

Akai gave her signature half smile and raised her dish in a toast "I'm for anything that will piss off Byakuya."

His demeanor suddenly sobered as he turned towards her, "So, it's 'Byakuya' now, huh?"

Her face reddened as she realized her slip of tongue. To avoid the topic she focused her eyes downwards watching her hands swirl the clear liquid in her ceramic bowl.

"Ryuu, it's not really fer me ta say, but…"

"Then don't!" She snapped, successfully halting his speech, "It is nothing, Kuchiki is a prick, don't go making something out of nothing, Zaraki!"

The words tasted bitter as she said them, but it was true that nothing was going on. Kuchiki had not spoken a single word to her since the incident in her office. Not that she had said anything to him either. However, whenever the opportunity presented itself their eyes would meet, and the look was usually lingering for them both. Usually she was the one to break the gaze, mostly because it made her stomach to flip. She really had no clue what had changed between them, maybe the looks were from hatred, maybe not.

"Don't gotta be a bitch, Ryuu." Zaraki replied as he reached over and topped off her bowl from one of his bottles.

She smirked, thankful he had returned to his normal self, "Then don't be a brute, Zaraki."

"Tch! And how'd that be any fun!" He drained the bottle in his hand and hollered for another round.

_**XXXX**_

The following day went by painfully as Akai suffered from a night long drinking binge with Zaraki and Kurosaki. Why she had chosen to go drink to drink with the two much larger men was now a mystery. Perhaps the sake _had_ dulled her prowess, or at least dulled her decision making capabilities. A hangover was not improving her ability to complete all of this bullshit paperwork either. She set down her brush and ran her hands through the hair that she had been too tired to braid that morning. It was already growing dark outside and she had accomplished next to nothing with the day.

Lifting her head, she could hear Kira talking with somebody. Almost absent mindedly, she reached out to see if she could identify the presence of the visitor.

"Shit!" It was _him_ and he was none too happy judging from his reiatsu. Quickly she picked up her brush and tried to look really busy with the form in front of her. A scratch at the door signaled he was coming to speak with her.

"Enter." She forced her tone into a clipped seriousness and refused to look up from the still blank report.

Kuchiki approached the desk with his typical grace and slid a completed form on top of the one already in front of her.

"Form 28-B is incorrect. Please fill it out properly before resubmitting it to the sixth division." His tone was cold and business like.

Her brow furrowed as she stared at it, completely unable to remember filling it out the first time. As her eyes scanned over the sheet, she could see that her own calligraphy was slanted and sloppier than usual. This must have been one of the first things she did this morning, and it had not been a good morning at all.

The man in front of her made a slight sound of impatience with her lack of response before moving around the desk to her side. He knelt down and leaned over her before pointing to the form, "Section 3 is blank and the subtotal in block 15-B is calculated incorrectly."

With his close proximity, he may as well been speaking gibberish. She could not bring herself to focus on his words at all. Warmth was radiating from his body and his breath was falling on the dip of her neck under her ear. All she could do was sit there in shock, wide eyed, and completely unfocused on anything except for his nearness.

"If you are still unable to comprehend, Ryuu Taicho, you should ask for more clarification."

Plucking the brush out of her hand his body shifted and his chest leaned into her back as he reached around her. His left hand rested on the desk on her left, while his right hand corrected the form, his arm almost casually draped over her own still limb. Somehow she had ended up being practically cradled by the man as he did her paperwork with a neat and tidy hand. It felt far too intimate for a tutorial on filling out form 28-whatever it was. His face was looking over her shoulder as he completed the calculations and his body was lightly pressed against her back. The moment was filled with her heart pounding in her ears as she puzzled over in her mind how to react to this type of contact. Luckily as soon as he finished the form he picked it up, rose, and walked towards the door.

"See to it that your paperwork is satisfactory before submitting it next time."

Was that all he had to say? She knew that her face was a mixture of shock and maybe anger as she looked at his retreating back. The door to her office shut with the flutter of an expensive scarf, he was gone, and she needed a drink.

_**XXXX**_

Walking back to division six, he was a little surprised with his own inappropriate behavior. It had just happened, as though it were the natural action to take. He knew that she had every reason to report his acts if she so chose. That was not the sort of woman she was though, if it had displeased her, she would have drawn her zanpakuto and removed him from her space. No, he had left her speechless for once. His lips turned up slightly, she had been wearing the haori he had given her. She smelled like fresh snow and pine…

_**XXXX**_

_**Please Review! I would love to know what everyone thinks of my story!**_


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach

_**There are only three chapters left in this book. This story will consist of six books in the end and I am already working on the outline for the next book. The outline for the final book is already written. At this time I am going back over and editing this specific story, so some things may be changing, but only slightly. **_

_**I look forward to hearing from reviewers!**_

_**While writing this chapter I was listening to Coldplay's "Paradise".**_

_**XXXX**_

It had never bothered Akai that she was relatively inept in normal social settings. First of all, she was from Zaraki, second she was originally stationed in the eleventh squad, and finally, a majority of her career this far was spent in solitude. When she needed to communicate something she was blunt and to the point. If there was a disagreement then it could usually be solved by crossing blades. This strange game that was being played by the Kuchiki noble was throwing her for a loop. Everything about it was subtle, quiet, and completely confusing to her. Had the man made a pass at her? Is that what "making a pass" meant? Not only did she not know she really had no one to turn to and ask. Her friends were not only all male, but they seemed just as dense in these sorts of situations as herself.

So she had sat down and drawn out a battle plan. She needed to figure out what exactly was going on with Kuchiki Byakuya, and there was only one way she could think of to do that. Originally she had thought about marching over to his office, pointing her zanpakuto at him, and asking him what the fuck he was thinking. Knowing Kuchiki though, he would simply have her forcibly removed from his presence. She mulled the situation over until the solution had literally fallen in front of her eyes.

The week after her "tutorial" with Kuchiki, a new 28-B form arrived at her office to be filled out and returned to the sixth division. Concentrating heavily, she filled it out absolutely perfect in the tidiest calligraphy she was capable of.

"Kira, can you come in here please?"

He entered quietly and stood watching her finish the last touches on the document. "Yes Taicho?"

"Kira, will you please take this report directly to the sixth division, it needs to be delivered immediately." Without looking up she held the document up to the blond vice-captain.

She heard his slight gasp as he took the paper, and it made her lips twitch in anticipation. "Are you sure, Taicho?"

"Absolutely, but Kira…" With seriousness she looked up at him, "I would not wait around to see his response if I were you."

The smile that appeared on Kira's face was priceless.

_**XXXX**_

"Uhhh, Taicho?" Renji's stammering cut into Byakuya's train of thought as he was running through the training protocols for the month.

"What is it, Abarai?" He made sure his tone was cutting, and secretly enjoyed watching the man flinch.

"I…I think that this 28-B from division three is for you." With a slight tremble in his hands the red haired vice captain held out the item.

Fixing his subordinate with a glare he reached up and took the form, "Leave."

"Yes, Taicho." Red hair vanished from his office so quickly that it almost made him smirk in satisfaction.

Turning his attention to the document, he clenched his fists in anger at what he saw. Clearly she was displeased after all. All of her calculations were flawless, every box had been checked, and everything was summarized in neat calligraphy. However, scrawled across the completed form that he _needed_ for his records were the words, "the clearing, tonight at seven."

"Abarai!" A crashing sound echoed through the front office at the sound of his voice. "Bring me a new 28-B form."

_**XXXX**_

Due to the fact she wanted to cause him as much anxiety as he had put onto her, she arrived late. As she entered their old training grounds she could feel that he was angry. His eyes looked like sharp edged half moons, shining with a calm, steely irritation, as they rose to meet hers. Somehow she shoved down the temptation to skip with joy when she saw how pissed he was. This man had made a mistake when he chose Ryuu Akai as an opponent. She was certain she was the opposite of any other woman that had entered his life.

"Did you find my paperwork adequate, Kuchiki?" Growling the words she turned a cocky half smile at him.

"Are you familiar with the penalty for using official documents for personal business, Ryuu?" While his face remained emotionless, his voice conveyed his anger.

"I will always find a way to piss you off, Kuchiki! Forget insulting your honor, all I have to do is fuck up your paperwork!" She was now smiling widely and feeling very full of herself.

"Such vulgarity is unbecoming of a captain, Ryuu. You will repair your transgression." From his shihakusho he pulled a sheet of paper and spun it from his grip towards her. As it drifted to the ground she felt like howling in laughter at him, but she held it in instead.

In almost a whisper she taunted, "Make me."

He reached for the hilt of his zanpakuto, but his movements were slow and deliberate. When his hand came to rest on the handle she could have sworn that the corners of his lips tilted up in a smile. Just as soon as she took note of the expression the sound of a sword coming free of its sheath sounded throughout the opening. The man vanished from her site. "_Shit, he is fast!"_

Releasing her own weapon just in time, she parried his attack and grinned like a maniac at his stoic face. Leaping back she crouched as he charged her again. When he was within range she dodged to the side and landed a round house kick to his broad upper back. His reiatsu flared blocking the effects of the well placed foot. She stood her ground, sword held to her side as he turned and held up his sword broadside in front of him.

"Scatter." Thousands of silken looking petals blew into the air as he calmly said the word.

"Shit, Kuchiki!" Exhaling she flared her reiatsu to full release to avoid being sliced to pieces by the multiple blades. Despite her efforts the razor edges reached her and left several tiny scratches on her face and arms. Why had he taken it this far, she would never release her zanpakuto on him?

As his sword reformed she flung hers away, making it pierce into the ground several feet away. "What the hell, Kuchiki!" Reaching up she brushed away the small trickle of blood that fell from her brow towards her eye.

"Take up your weapon, Ryuu."

"No."

They stood at an impasse. Studying him, she could see that he was truly angry with her. Yet she had hardly put him through the strife that he had imposed on her. She had only dishonored his paperwork, what he had done was so much worse. Taking up a stubborn position she crossed her arms and insulted him farther by looking stiffly away.

"Do not take your eyes from your opponent, Ryuu." The way his voice rumbled almost sent a shiver up her spine, but she refused to look his way. His reiatsu surged and she could feel that he was preparing to charge despite the fact she was unarmed.

He catapulted towards her, and she did not cringe, she merely turned her face towards him again. His blade came speeding down onto her open and unflinching shoulder. As it came into contact with her it stopped, and merely rested it there. Sparks were flying as the two stood there gazing at one another, her with arms still crossed while his weapon lay against her collar bone.

"What is going on here, Kuchiki?" It was near a whisper as it left her lips.

Coldly he replied, "I know not what you speak of, Ryuu."

"Bastard!" Swinging at him with a left hook she lost control over her temper. An open palm stopped her fist and his fingers wrapped around her trembling hand. Eyes closed he simply stood there holding her balled hand in his own. She slumped her shoulders in defeat and confusion.

"Then please, stay away from me." The pleading tone in her own voice made her feel nauseous. Grey irises met hers as his eyes snapped open at her request. Hurt shone in his eyes and surprised her to the very core. How could they have such conversations with just looks? Why would he not simply be plain and speak to her? Gently she pulled her hand from his and flash stepped towards the edge of the clearing.

At the trees he appeared in front of her. The man was so fast, but that is what comes from having Yoruichi as a shunpoe instructor. She halted and practically cried out at him, "What! What do you want from me Kuchiki?"

For the first time she watched as his face softened, his eyes were almost warm as he looked at her. Slowly he walked the few feet between them and wrapped his arms around her waist. Her heart leaped into her throat as he firmly pulled her body against his. Leaning in, his lips pressed against her mouth with gentleness that she could have never imagined the man to be capable of.

The feelings that overtook her in that moment were monumental. Fire raged through all of her senses and her entire body tingled with the intimate contact. When she softened her lips to the kiss, his tongue gently flicked out to touch them. Cautiously she yielded to him and he began to explore her mouth as her traitorous arms found their way up and around his neck. Gradually the kiss deepened as she returned his ministrations with a passion that she had been previously unaware of.

He pulled away from her lips and leaned his forehead against hers with his eyes closed. Warm breath fanned across her face as she inhaled it and savored its essence. "Byakuya?" As she studied his face she could not help but notice he looked… concerned.

His lids lifted and his eyes were completely empty again. Almost shoving her to the ground he pushed away from her. With complete shock she watched as he vanished from her sight and she felt his presence fade as he shunpoed back towards the seireitei.

Clenching her jaw she knew what had just happened. In spite of the fact that Byakuya wanted to keep her in the dark, she was no fool. The man was feeling guilt for opening up to another woman, guilt for allowing himself to experience life again. Although she had originally thought he was playing a game with her, it was now dangerously clear that it was not. If there was one thing that Akai was sad about, it was that he had chosen her. Akai had no defense for this tactic, and she was full of openings. Despite all of her own conflicted emotions, he was her comrade, and he was badly injured.

_**XXXX**_

_**I don't know how I am doing with writing angst. I hope you liked this chapter. I am kind of sad this book is wrapping up because we won't see as much of these two again until the final book. I will tell you this much though, I got a little teared up writing the outline for the last story in this series. It should be pretty good.**_


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I don't own bleach

_**This chapter is very close to my heart. When I first started imagining this story, this was the chapter that was in my mind. I hope you all love it as much as I do.**_

_**XXXX**_

_"But I set fire to the rain,_  
><em>Watched it pour as I touched your face,<em>  
><em>Well, it burned while I cry<em>  
><em>'Cause I heard it screaming out your name, your name!"<em>  
><em>Adele - "Set fire to the rain"<em>

Gently falling rain beat out a melancholy tempo on the roof above him. Although sleep should have found him hours ago, he could not bear to close his eyes. Ever since retiring to his futon, all he can do is stare blankly at the rafters and allow the thoughts and memories wander through his mind. Upon returning home he had gone to the shrine and asked Hisana to forgive his betrayal, but it had brought no peace to his conflicted heart. After his prayers, he had gone to his desk and filled out a report of inappropriate conduct to be filed against himself in the morning. The captain of the third division would not, he decided, file such a complaint so the duty had fallen to him.

Thoughts shifting, he brought a manicured hand to his lips and remembered his weakness as a man. With a hurt in her voice that cut him, she had begged him to leave her alone, and he should have complied with her request. Since the night that he gave her the haori, his thoughts had often turned to the fiery blonde woman, and his slow coming respect of her. On that evening she had understood him completely and released him from a debt that most others would have held over him. Byakuya was a powerful man in the soul society and he had always been very careful to never owe anyone. Debt could easily put compromise on his ordeals and morals, but she had seen that and erased it with a graceful ease that showed a complete perception of his position. He could think of no one else who had ever understood him so quickly and completely.

With slight concentration he could feel her reiatsu pulsing softly in the distance. She did not have it shielded and he could feel her emotions reflecting in her soul pressure. He was slightly surprised that neither anger nor resentment seemed to be present. Sorrow and angst gave the rhythm of her presence a feeling of depression that made his heart ache. His behavior tonight had betrayed two women; one was the love of his life, and the other…

Consternation overtook him; he did not know what she was to him! Somewhere along the line he had invested trust and a shaky devotion in the powerful female. Tonight he had discovered that perhaps she had also changed her opinion on their relationship.

"_Byakuya?"_

It had only been the second time the woman had spoken his name like that, absent of titles or formalities. Even Yoruichi with her nicknames still saw him as someone who was beneath her. With a single word, Ryuu had stripped away everything, revealing that she saw him as an equal. As an equal he owed her an explanation, as a man he owed her an apology.

He rose from his futon and wrapped a dark blue kimono over his sleeping robes. Stepping out into the garden he used his reiatsu to shield himself from the rain and he reached out to locate the sleepless woman who he had wronged. Her soul pressure was located on top of one of the few tall building in the seireitei. Firming himself for what was surely to be a difficult confrontation, he moved towards her location.

Coming to a rest on a building about fifty feet away, he could see her form in the darkness. She was sitting with her back to him as the rain fell freely on her. Golden hair was darkened with wetness and hung freely down her back. The crimson kimono she wore was soggy as it clung to her tall, svelte body. Silently he berated himself for noticing her feminine curves. That was _not_ what he was here for. Still blocking the rain with his soul pressure, he removed his heavy kimono and moved to drop it over her damp shoulders.

_XXXX_

Heavy clothe fell about her damp shoulders, and she turned in shock to see the person responsible. Held captive by her wandering mind, she did not feel him approach in the dark. Pale light glowed around his form as he lowered himself into a seated position a few feet away from her, his reiatsu acting as a shield from the precipitation.

"Why are you in the rain?" His eyes slid to look at her; they looked like silver scythes in the darkness.

His hair was free of the typical adornment and it fell loose and shaggy looking about his face and shoulders. In the place of his usual uniform were simple blue sleeping robes. Seeing him in this way made him seem approachable, maybe even a little friendly. Without a symbol of his rank he looked like any other man and for the first time she saw him as just that. Kuchiki Byakuya was an enigma, but the shinigami sitting next to her was just a man. Akai could not help but to feel a bit honored that he had felt comfortable enough to show her this side of him.

"The rain…" she started before hesitating. Did this man deserve to know anything about her? It was not as if she was seeking to impress him. No, it was not that at all. The only way he would ever be honest and open with her, is if she reciprocated. As far as she could tell, he had no one who truly knew his heart, and she understood that. She had spent her life as a shield to her own soul, and realizing that, made it easy to understand the man beside her.

"The rain makes me feel alive. I was alone… alone for a very long time. The living world changed so drastically around me, it was in a constant state of evolution. Honor, pride, those things disappeared as the world changed. Every day it was new and different, and I remained the same. I trained, but I was a lone shinigami..." Closing her eyes, she sighed and forged ahead. "I began to forget what I stood for and who I was… then… I started to wonder if I had ever existed to begin with."

His eyes were boring into her now; she could feel him listening to her thoughts. It was slightly unnerving to have his undivided attention. Despite this she had to continue down the path, "I could feel the rain though. If I didn't really exist, I wouldn't be able to feel it, would I?"

Lowering her head, she pulled her legs up to hug her knees as she looked over the seireitei. If she was honest with herself, she knew that she had never expected to return to this place. Such a thought was painful; it was so very unlike her. "No matter how badly I wanted to, I never shirked my duty, Kuchiki." She turned her face towards him and met his eyes, "Duty is everything to us, is it not?"

Silence fell over the two as they sat in the rain. She looked away from him and refocused her gaze on the settlement spread before them, not expecting an answer.

"We exist to uphold the law, Ryuu." His voice was so cold and void of emotion that it was almost painful to her. She could remember a time when he had also been so alive.

Anger built up inside of her as she thought about his answer. She had just opened up to him, had she not? Not only that, but she was serious dammit!

"What the hell happened to you, Byakuya?" The question hung in the damp air; she had spoken with as much force as she dared.

Reiatsu flared for a fraction of second from the serious man, she watched him as he closed his eyes and his brows drew together in a look of pain. A pregnant silence erupted and dwelt between them for an extended period before he tried to stand. She could not believe he was going to try and walk away without answering.

"Answer the question Kuchiki! You owe me an explanation of some sort."

Clenching his jaw he stared angrily into the darkness, "I broke many rules, and I broke them to make myself happy. It was selfish, and I did shirk my duty… and I paid for my sins. She was… my wife, my Hisana." It sounded as if he was being knifed in the chest as words forced their way into the open. "She died, she vanished from my days as if she never lived at all, and I was still here."

Turning towards her forcefully he raised his voice, "I am a shinigami! Death is always on my mind, it makes up the foundation of the Soul Society. I was supposed to depart this life first, not her!"

Akai's heart ached as she watched the powerful man break. He had once been so brash and hot tempered; now he was just a shadow drifting from year to year. Shaking, she tenderly reached out and laid a hand on his arm. "I cannot say that I understand, Kuchiki, but I know one thing. As a woman, if I left behind a man in such a way… I would hope that he continues to live as he had when I cared for him." His shoulders slumped at her words, and his face was hidden by the curtain of his hair.

Removing her fingers from his arm she stood, ready to leave and asked him softly, "Do you wish to be alone, Kuchiki?"

"No." A tentative hand reached up to guide her back to him as he continued, "I no longer wish to be alone."

Brushing his hand aside she lowered herself back to the rooftop, this time much closer to him. Her shoulder was leaned lightly into his as she hoped to provide him with strength and courage. The words he had spoken had not come easy, and she wanted to assure him that she would do all she could to lend him her vigor.

"Then do not be afraid to live, Kuchiki." A slight tremor from his body answered her words. The statement had reached him, and he knew what she meant. His reiatsu dropped and the rain reached his pale skin and dark hair. Heavily a sigh escaped his mouth as his shoulder pressed towards her and his robes became water logged.

Leaning into each other, the pair sat in the downpour for several hours, neither one of them seeing any need to speak. No thoughts dwelled on either mind as they enjoyed the simple pleasure of feeling like themselves in one another's company. As the rain stopped an involuntary shiver shook her body and his arm came up and pulled her close. The new light of day broke through the clouds and dawn formed on the horizon.

Eventually he moved away from her and stood, pausing for only a moment before offering a hand to her. A half smile crept across her face as she reached up and took the offering. After pulling her to her feet his arm snaked around her waist and he tugged her into an intimate embrace. The side of her face was pressed against his chest allowing her to hear the gentle beat of his heart. Wet robes were cool to the touch making the skin underneath feel almost impossible warm. Strong fingers hooked her chin and pulled her face up to peer into his eyes. The corners of his mouth turned up slightly, it was the barest hint of a smile and it left her feeling a bit breathless.

"Thank you, Akai."

"You don't have to say that, Byakuya. We are comrades; you would have done the same"

A moment passed where they simply observed each other. Slowly he leaned in to her face and his lids lowered over shining grey eyes. Rain dampened, his lips were cold but his tongue was burning hot in comparison as it grazed across her lower lip. Permitting entry, she accepted his affections and returned them as best she could. While this was only the second kiss of her life, he had obviously more practice than her and took his time in showing her the extent of his skills. The kiss was passionate and deep, and she twined her fingers into his dripping black mane. Strong arms threatened to crush the air out of her as he clasped her firmly to his body. It was nothing short of a magical moment shared between two shinigami that normally did not drop their facades.

A crash sounded in the distance ending the moment and forcing the two to come up for air. Running his hands down her arms he looked at her softly, "The day is breaking, Akai."

Tweaking an eyebrow at him, she shone an honest smile at him. His expression warmed further and he seemed to understand her expression perfectly. She did not know when it had happened, but somewhere in the night they had reached a point where a thousand words could be conveyed in a simple look.

"I can't let you keep me here all day, Kuchiki." Fingering the sleeve of the fine blue kimono she was still wearing she continued, "And I am keeping this, I have never been as fashionable as you." Flashing a quick wink at him she shunpoed away from his raised eyebrow and headed back toward her quarters. It was not the outcome that she had planned on, but she decided she was happy with it none the less.

**_XXXX_**

Ichigo woke with the rising sun and looked down on the peaceful features of the woman beside him. Carefully he brushed a raven lock from her face before rising from the sheets that they shared. Lazily he walked into the kitchen and made some tea to enjoy on the porch of the fifth division quarters. What he saw when he walked out into the new day made the cup fall and shatter loudly.

Footsteps came rushing his way as Rukia arrived, full of concern, "Ichigo!"

Eyes wide, the orange haired man could not look away from what he was witnessing. Rukia followed his gaze to a nearby rooftop, and a shocked gasp erupted from her miniscule form.

"Nii-sama!"

_XXXX_


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I do not own bleach.

_**A/N: Well here is chapter 13. Originally this story was going to be 14 chapters long, but chapter 13 went way too long so I chopped it in half. So here is the first half. Please read and review!**_

_**The song I liked best for this is "Complicated" by Avril Lavigne**_

**_XXXX_**

She was finishing up braiding her damp hair as she walked into division three headquarters that morning. Even though she did not get a bit of sleep she was feeling refreshed and ready for work. Maybe it was because everything seemed so clean and fresh after a night of rain. Though, it could have also been the company of a certain man. Smiling inwardly she slid the light door of her office open, only to be greeted by an unexpected view.

Kurosaki Ichigo was lounging behind her desk with his feet propped up on the wooden top. Nonchalantly he fiddled with a sealed ink jar while confidently acting as if he owned the joint.

"Kurosaki?" Akai was not sure how to take his almost disrespectful display.

"Yo," he greeted her with barely a glance before returning his attention back to the bottle.

"It is pretty early yet in the morning, do you need something?" A dangerous edge crept into her voice, she was getting a feeling of smugness from her peer and it was annoying her.

"Ah, thought I would come by and commiserate." His tone was decidedly self-satisfied.

Narrowing her eyes into a glare she stalked over to her desk and roughly shoved his feet off of her workspace. This only caused the deathberry to smirk at her before he set down the ink jar and removed himself from her seat.

He was acting weird, and it was putting her on edge. "What the hell are you talking about Kurosaki?"

"I think you know what I am talking about Ryuu, or has the paperwork not arrived yet?" By now the young man had moved over to feign interest in the books that lined the far wall.

"What paperwork?" Did she forget to do something yesterday, she was certain she had finished everything. For once she was actually caught up.

"The same paperwork that I had to fill out when a relationship with a fellow soldier became… personal. A Statement of Intent." His back was to her when he said the words.

"WHAT!" Her entire body stiffened in shock, instinctually her hand went straight to the hilt of Sensou.

Throwing an absent minded glance over his shoulder he answered with an air of amusement, "I am a little surprised; usually Byakuya is annoyingly punctual with documents. Or did you really think nobody would see you two, out in the open like that?"

A deep blush rushed into her cheeks as she clasped her fingers more firmly around the hilt of her zanpakuto. "Kurosaki, are you taunting me?"

He turned an understanding face towards her before speaking, "Keep your shit together, Ryuu. I am not taunting you. Just thought I would give you a heads up. The Kuchiki siblings are both sticklers for the rules."

Growling at him, she ventured, "What did you see, Kurosaki?"

"Enough to know that Byakuya will be filing a statement today, he already runs the risk of having a 'conflict of interest' complaint filed against him. Especially since he knows that somebody saw him." Kurosaki seemed thoroughly amused with himself.

Dropping her grip on her weapon, she asked, "How does he know, seeing that you still appear to be unharmed Kurosaki?"

"There is no way that he did not feel Rukia's reaction to seeing you two. I think half the Soul Society felt it."

Ryuu was not really familiar with the small woman's reiatsu, but she had not really been looking for other presences in that moment. Still, she was confused by the hint that her personal life needed to be documented in some way. It had been an intimate moment, but that in no way confirmed any sort of lasting relationship between herself and the other captain.

"Why is there any need of paperwork for such a thing, it is a trivial matter Kurosaki. And, I really do not think you, of all people, have any right to be in here preaching about protocol."

Eyes rolling he laughed with a bit of mirth, "I doubt that it was 'trivial', Ryuu. Byakuya will no doubt have the forms completed before any more chance of 'trivial matters'."

"Bullshit. Kuchiki gave no impression that this would be a continuing occurrence." Akai just really wanted Kurosaki to leave her alone; her mood was now completely ruined.

"Quite being dense, Ryuu! I know more than anyone how much of a dick Byakuya can be, but do you really believe he is that sort of man? To be honest I thought he was completely asexual the way he avoids all contact with any other living creature. But, my eyes did not deceive me this morning, and _that_ was no trivial matter to somebody such as Byakuya. Pull your head outta your ass, Ryuu, and quite acting like you are impervious to affection! The world is not division eleven, and people can experience other emotions besides battle lust, even you two." Kurosaki's brows were drawn together and his signature scowl was etched across his face.

Akai was a bit shocked; she had never been put in her place before with merely words. At the same time she did not know how this was any of his business. Red filled her vision as she glared at him fiercely, "Get the fuck out of my office, Kurosaki!"

He lingered for just a moment before shaking his head and turning towards the door. "It was just a warning, Ryuu. I did not want you to be blindsided by these things like I was." With that he was gone.

Slumping into her seat she sulkily picked up her brush and set to work. Things were going to get interesting; in the last five hours she had kissed one captain and been a total bitch to another. Maybe it would have been easier to just stay in exile, the biggest drama she ever faced there involved the pairing of whales.

_**XXXX**_

Unfortunately the fifth division captain had been correct. Less than an hour after he left a sealed envelope had arrived from the sixth division. Two separate forms were present; one was a statement of intent and the other was a report of inappropriate conduct. The statement of intent was straight forward enough; its main purpose was to insure that orders were not issued in a way that could cause a conflict of interest. It seemed fair enough, she wasn't certain she could follow an order that could potentially harm the noble. This was a big change really, a few months ago she would have leapt at the chance. Shoving her face into her palms she sighed with exasperation. Did signing this form mean that they were in a… relationship? Was that something that she wanted?

She shoved the form back in the envelope unsigned and pulled the second one forward. It had been written in Byakuya's perfect script and it outlined the events that had happened in the clearing, but did not mention anything of the events after that. It was clear that this was his way of apologizing, "_that man can be a colossal ass"._ If she signed this form, it would mean she was pressing charges and he would be reprimanded. Just for sending this to her, she was tempted. For the moment, or maybe for the rest of her life, she was fine ignoring the two documents. Cramming the second one roughly back into the envelope she tossed it carelessly in a drawer and slammed it shut.

It was about time she went and found a distraction; this pansy relationship shit was way beyond her. Sure she felt an attraction to the calm and collected man, and somehow she had even gained a large amount of respect for him. She actually _wanted_ to share some sort of bond with him, but a relationship? What next? Prancing around the Kuchiki grounds picking out linens and ass kissing visiting nobles? Not happening, not now and not ever, and if that is what Byakuya was looking for he was barking up the wrong tree. Grabbing up her zanpakuto she decided to go and harass her squad on the training grounds, it had been awhile since she oversaw their drills anyway.

_**XXXX**_

That evening she turned down any invites to join her comrades and returned to her quarters. Upon entering her sparsely furnished dwelling she tossed _the documents_ down onto a low table. They had been following her, taunting her silently all day. She still had no idea what to do about them. Shedding her haori onto the floor she sauntered into the kitchen to make some tea. An inward smile erupted to the surface when she saw the bottle of sake in her cupboard. Forget the tea!

After obtaining a cup, her and the bottle of sake retired back to the low table. She uncapped the beverage and started with a couple of swigs straight from the bottle. Putting the bottle down she pulled the papers from the envelope and laid them out on the table in front of her. They were creased and wrinkled haphazardly from a day of pretty extreme abuse. She had read them pretty close to a hundred times, and each time she would get angry and thrust them rudely back into their envelope.

Maybe she should talk to Sensou? She pulled the zanpakuto from its sheath and impaled her table with it so that the weapon was upright in front of her. It's not like she used the table that often anyway. Settling herself in meditation pose on a lounging pillow she closed her eyes and reached out to her zanpakuto.

"_Sensou?"_

"_Akai." _It was a rich deep growl that erupted over her senses and hauled her into her inner sanctum.

It was a barren and grey battle field. The wind always blew heavily here, it reminded her of the high winds in the south. Sensou stood straight and tall as always, with one hand on the hilt of her sword, ready for battle. Red reptilian eyes shone from the shadowy face of the zanpakuto. Sometimes it was hard for Akai to remember that this creature was actually a part of her.

"_What do you want Akai? I would hate to think you came here for pleasantries."_ A clink was heard as the zanpakuto released the sword at its side from the sheath.

Akai snarled at the threat and laid her palm against the hilt of her own weapon before answering sarcastically, _"I'm meditating Sensou, isn't that what we shinigami are supposed to do when we are confused?"_

"_Don't be ridiculous, you know what you want already. Draw your weapon and lay down the rules. Quit being such an empty headed female, it is ruining this place for me."_ The dark creature turned away from her and looked over the bleak and dreary plain.

Bowing slightly, Akai realized that her zanpakuto had a point, _"Thank you Sensou."_

"_Get out or draw your weapon." _Akai wasted no time in leaving behind the unpredictable creature.

A scratch at the door greeted her as she came out of her meditative state. She knew exactly who it was, and his timing could not be better. Grabbing her bottle of sake she poured herself a cup and called out, "Enter!"

Sipping from the saucer she watched through narrow eyes as the door slid open to reveal Kuchiki Byakuya. His eyes wandered around the room before coming to rest on her. If he was at all shocked to find her in this current state his eyes did not show it.

"Akai." The greeting sounded stiff and straight despite the lack of formalities.

She leaned forward and put her elbows on the table, in one hand she still clenched a cup of sake and her other reached out and ran a caressing hand down the blade of her zanpakuto. In a menacing tone drizzled in sarcasm she returned his greeting, "Well, well, if it isn't the king of paperwork, _Lord_ Byakuya."

**_XXXX_**

**_Please review so I know how I am doing! If you love it, review! If you can't fucking stand it, review! If it made you feel absolutely nothing, then please feel free to review! :) Thank you!_**

**_Iyashi_**


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer – I don't own Bleach

_**Disclaimer # 2- I suck at writing romance, it comes fairly unnaturally to me. I hope that you like it anyway. I hope you are all starting to look forward to book 2!**_

_**XXXX – Byakuya's POV**_

As he slid the door open, he belatedly realized that this was the first time he had ever visited a woman's private quarters. Wondering what it would be like, he let his sight wander around the room. It did not look much different from any of the men's quarters he had been in. The furnishings were sparse with random clothing strung about the floor, there was a zanpakuto impaled through the dining table, and a scantily clad woman holding a cup of sake. His eyes suddenly focused back on on the woman, she wore a simple house robe and with the way she was sitting… it could be considered indecent. Akai leaned forward to plant her elbows on the table and while she thought she was looking intimidating, Byakuya had to struggle to keep his eyes from wandering towards her exposed breastbone.

Her voice sliced through his revelry, "Well, well, if it isn't the king of paperwork, _Lord_ Byakuya."

A strong slender hand ran down her zanpakuto and he wondered if she was trying to be seductive or angry. Knowing this woman, and judging from her darkly sarcastic tone, she was furious.

"Do you plan on always greeting me with such disdain?" Cold and aloof his voice broke from his throat.

Her eyes narrowed, but he noticed there was no red tint in them. Gesturing with irritation towards the ragged looking papers on the table she replied to him, "Do you always plan on launching surprise attacks?"

"I do not know what you speak of. As captains it is our job to maintain the principles for those looking up to us. Such documentation should have been expected." In honesty, he could not see what she was so enraged about.

Flying to her feet she stomped towards him, "What the hell Byakuya? Instead of approaching me and speaking to me about this, you send over two forms? You could have simply asked me how I felt before!"

"I dare not presume anything." Reaching behind him, he slid the door to her apartment shut to afford some privacy. The last thing he needed was anyone to see him here, especially before those documents were signed. It was not only himself he hoped to protect; being that as far as the records show, she was a failed Kuchiki assassin.

"It is insulting to be approached in this manner, Kuchiki." Again, her hand flung towards the abused papers sitting on the table, "If you had something to say, you should have said it!"

"Akai, I had nothing to left to say. If we are to continue a personal relationship it must be reported to first division."

"_Relationship?" _The word dripped with venom from her mouth, her pitch dropped dangerously low, "And what made you think that I had any interest in a relationship, Kuchiki Byakuya?"

Suddenly he felt very cold, he was not expecting her to take this road, but none the less he was prepared for it. "If that is the situation, Ryuu, please complete the other form and submit it."

Her head dropped and she brought up her fingers to pinch the bridge of her nose, "It's always one way or another with you, isn't it?" Icy blue eyes rose and fixed him sternly in their gaze, "I do not want a _relationship_ with you." Special emphasis was put on the word; he had not realized she was still so opposed to him. He stood and blanked his expression to hide his feelings, but before he could retreat she had moved in closer.

"I am Ryuu Akai, and you have obviously underestimated me, Kuchiki. This is not a relationship! We are comrades! In battle I will watch your back, and you will watch mine. It is not a hope that this will happen, it will be a given. In our service to the Gotei 13 I will uphold your honor at all costs, and you!" Pausing dramatically, she threw her fist with a thump into her chest, "You will uphold mine, without wavering!"

She had now moved in very close, and Byakuya could feel his heart pounding. His eyes were wide with shock as she continued, "if you fail in your duty, it will be my blade to cut you down. If I fail in my duty, I will welcome no other blade than yours to take me."

Hesitating slightly, she lifted her hand and placed it over his heart, "and these things involve a trust that is not available in a relationship. I will never be your princess, but I will _never _fail as your partner if you can accept these conditions."

Byakuya was stunned. He had treated her as a woman, even though he had been honored that she viewed him as an equal. However, he had not thought to do the same with her. She was his fellow soldier first and foremost, and he had lost sight of that. Quietly he asked, "You will walk beside me?"

Akai crossed her arms under the rise of her breasts and huffed, "I'm not going to walk behind you, and I would have no respect for you if I walked ahead. I will walk beside you, I will fight beside you, and when our duties call for it, I will bleed and die beside you as well."

This is why he had chosen her.

_**XXXX – Akai's POV**_

For what seemed like hours, Byakuya simply stared at her. Then without a word he moved to her table, gracefully sat, and poured himself a cup of sake. "Sign the 'Statement of Intent', Akai." It was an order, he had accepted her terms.

Silently she walked behind him to the kitchen and retrieved a second cup and a brush set. She fixed her robe and went to join him at the low table. Giving him a business like look she whipped out her brush set and carefully set her name at the bottom of the stupid form. This man and his paperwork were going to be the death of her. Setting down the brush set she poured herself a cup and looked upon her new partner.

Raising her glass she spoke with sincerity, "To the battle ahead Kuchiki". She took a sip of the clear liquid while watching him do the same.

"Behind closed doors there is no reason for you to refer to me so formally." While his face was still perfectly masked she could see a glint in his eyes when he spoke.

Smirking back at him she joked, "Surely you don't expect me to refer to you as 'm-lord'?"

Now she knew she was not imagining the shining humor in his eyes as he deadpanned, "Byakuya will be suitable, however, we will see how you will regard the other title in the morning."

A deep blush rose to her face as she turned back to her saucer, "So you are capable of dirty jokes now, huh?"

Swirling the sake in his own dish, he did not take his eyes off of her, "A Kuchiki lord does not have use for such vulgarities."

"Tch! Always going to be a pompous ass, Byakuya?" Her tone was teasing but soft as she returned her eyes to him. Akai was rather enjoying their banter, he was so much her opposite that she could not predict what he would say next, and the challenge was enticing.

The smile that touched his mouth was almost unnoticeable, "Such unpleasantness is unbecoming from a woman of your appearance."

"Sometimes, I don't know if you are insulting me or complimenting me." She laughed, but there was a tension rising in the room that she could not pin down. Nervously she reached for the bottle of sake, only to have his hand intercept her wrist.

"That is enough sake for this night." Forcefully he tugged her body so that she collided into his chest.

For a moment she lingered, her face buried in his clothing. It smelled of whatever soap he used, maybe it was sandalwood; she had never been good at pinpointing these types of things. In moments like this she felt weak and it bothered her. She was not a weak woman, but this was a strategy that she was unfamiliar with… affection.

Placing her hands against him she pushed herself up so that she could look at his face. It was uncharacteristically warm and caring, and she could not help but to feel slightly frightened, how much easier it would be if he looked blank or angry. She was determined though to not be weak, so she shoved him gently, causing him to fall back onto the floor. Straddling him, she unwound the ties that held his robes in place. His eyes watched her as she pushed the fabric away from the skin on his chest. Many scars lined his torso, and she noticed the large, circular pinkness in the middle of his breast. It was the injury that she had witnessed.

To the right was a thick pink line where a sword had obviously punctured, going straight through his heart. Gently her fingers traced it as her brows knitted together, how did he come by this?

"Ichimaru Gin" his words were a whispered answer to her unspoken question. Sometimes she forgot the magnitude of the war and what sort of toll it took on those involved. Byakuya had fought in that war, and while he came away alive, he was not unscathed.

His hand came up and his index finger traced gently along the line that ran down her face. He was obviously curious and wanted to know about her battle wounds.

Tossing a glance over her shoulder towards her zanpakuto, she answered, "Sensou".

Now both of his hands moved to her face and he cupped both sides of her head. "You are an astonishing woman."

Her eyes widened, it was so very unlike him to say such things. His hair was a pool of darkness surrounding his face, and he looked so prone to her. It was in this moment that she realized that he had given his trust to her, and somehow she had returned the favor. A gentle smile crept over her face as she looked down on his handsome face.

Carefully he pulled her face towards him and met her lips with his own. The kiss was soft and tender, as though he was afraid that she would break. Her heart was pounding in her ears, they were together now. It was a weird sensation for her; the sensation of no longer being alone. As the kiss deepened and became more passionate he sat upright, not breaking away. Gradually he made his way to his feet, scooping her up bridal style with him. Their lips did not part as he continued to ardently kiss her; he moved towards her bedroom.

Breaking away from her, he looked around the small room that she lived in. She watched him and took pleasure in observing the way he took in the scene. With a soft sigh he lowered her to the small futon where she slept every night.

"Byakuya… I… this is a battlefield I am unfamiliar with." As much as she hated to admit it, she was nervous about this.

His eyes flicked quickly to rest on hers, "This is not a battlefield, Akai."

That night, her comrade showed her the true meaning of partnership.

"_I will never let you fall_

_I'll stand up with you forever_

_I'll be there for you through it all_

_Even if saving you sends me to heaven"_

_-"Your Guardian Angel" Red Jumpsuit Apparatus_

**_FANART AVAILABLE!_**

**_So there is now Ryuu Akai and Byakuya fanart, the problem is, I have NO idea how to post the link! If you log onto to deviantART you should be able to find it under the profile 'iyashi360'_**

_**XXXX**_

_**Well there it is! Romance! I hope that it did not disappoint. I am not one to write hot sex scenes, it would be horrible and clumsy if I did. Please review and let me know what you think! Only one more chapter before book two! Book two will be all about Ichigo and Rukia, but don't worry, the story as a whole is based around Byakuya and Akai and their life together. We will be seeing them again!**_


	15. Red Dragon Finale

_**RED DRAGON FINALE**_

Time is inconsequential in the soul society, it twirls and winds about the spirits who dwell there but it is unable to make a lasting impact on them. This is where the dead come to rest, for some it is a peaceful place. For others it is a chance to reach out and take hold of glory while protecting all that is good. Life means nothing for those who are dead, especially the few chosen ones who rise up to become death gods. They leave life alone; leave it for those who are living. Their realm is what comes after the last breath escapes, the movement of the heart stills, and the soul slips away from the confines of a mortal body. A flow of souls move into the afterlife at the same rate that they move back into the world of the living. As an old woman breaths her last a new baby takes his first. It is the shinigami who insure the balance of this flow. It is their honor, pride, and duty to do so.

_**XXXX**_

A lone man stands overlooking the Seireitei. He is known for his quiet demeanor and selfless sense of duty. The moon reflects off of the kenseiken that symbolize his noble birth; he is one of the few souls born in the soul society. A light breeze fans across his serious face and gently lifts the bottom edges of his haori. From the sheath hanging forever at his side, he pulls out the weapon that makes him a shinigami. Dark cerulean eyes close in meditation as he speaks with the zanpakuto that is an extension of his own soul.

Another captain approaches the scene, her combat trained body moves quietly to not disturb the man. Stopping beside him, she watches his face until his eyes open, and he turns towards her in the dark.

"Are you beside me?" The noble man did not need to ask the question, but it felt right in the moment.

"Always." Pulling her own sword from its sheath, the woman did not need to answer, but if felt right in the moment.

For a brief moment both of the captains stood, zanpakuto crossed and pointed towards the ground. A slight bow broke both of their rigid postures as they showed admiration to each other.

The sound of clashing weapons rang out in the darkness.

_Feint, block, strike, parry_

With the speed they moved it would be near impossible for an observer to follow their movements.

_Deflect, sidestep, slash, attack_

Their breaths came hard and fast, sweat poured over the bodies of the sparring warriors.

_Slice, evade, twist, __**dance**_

Every step, every motion was perfectly controlled and timed. The White Knight and the Red Dragon danced around each other as their swords sang out with each strike. Few things in the life of a shinigami were more intimate than this type of battle. Two well matched fighters come together for what can only be described as euphoric…

_**XXXX**_

_**There is now fanart for this story! I have not been able to figure out how to add the link though. It is on deviant art. Deviant name: Iyashi360.**_

_**Book two will be titled "Pale Moon". There will be a ten year time jump between "Red Dragon" and "Pale Moon". Please review to let me know how I did for the conclusion!**_


End file.
